The Internet Personna

     I think that it is safe to say that all of us know at least one person who is consumed with social networks. I am not talking about the person who you would categorize as a "addict" or something of that nature. I am referring to that person who is one way in real life, maybe they are really shy or really outgoing, and the way that they portray themselves online counteracts with that.
    Now I am not really talking about the extreme here. There are people that completely change their identity online, for example a 53 year old man transforming himself into a 13 year old girl. But I am talking about the guy or girl that you personally know who is one of the shyest people that you know in person, but online they gain a ton of confidence and transform into a different person metaphorically. Maybe they become the joke-ster on Facebook, or the person who everyone thinks is a freak on Twitter, but in real life, they do not live the lives you have perceived that they have lived.
     I wrote a paper about this in my pop-culture class, and from reading a few scholarly journals, Ive found that people are more comfortable with becoming this "new person" online because they believe that this person is their true self and online they feel they can be their true self with out any one judging them. I find that a little weird. Why would you want to talk to people that you barely know online, and tell them personal things about yourself? Some believe that they can avoid the judgment that they feel they may receive from their actual friends, by talking to people that they barely know.
    Now, I sort of switched topics in that last paragraph so let me clear up what I mean. A lot of people create what I call the "internet persona" and then also create new lives. I do not mean that they create a life that is fake, I mean that they often find themselves talking to, or hanging out with people that they normally would not. Which is fine, but some people really loose sight of who they truly are. They are one person on Twitter, so when they get around the people they only know from Twitter they have to be that person they perceived themselves to be, but when around their other friends, they are the person that they normally are. Some say that the "internet persona" is really a mire image of who the person truly is, and others say is is an image of who the person whats to be.
      I myself know people personally, who are not who people think they are on these social networks. But in their case I don't find it a bad thing. They are both very shy people in real life, and these social networks allow them to shine. They become the sort of "cool kids," people that every one loves, and thinks is funny, or respects them, people that they would not be other wise. They are allowed to show the side of themselves that they would not be comfortable showing if the circumstances were different. In their case, they really are the person that only the people on the social networks see, but others are not the same.
      I tell people everyday that the most important thing to remember is to always stay true to yourself. But some people do not even know who they are. Do you know who you are? I mean do you REALLY know who you truly are?