I value my privacy. My social media and forum accounts are very segregated into the ones for people who know me IRL and the ones where I'm anonymous. I even feel weird posting my dog on my nsfw artist Twitter. I don't post the same ones as on my real FB just in case someone bothers to reverse image search. Paranoid? No. I think it would be devastating to have someone from my family or workplace find my art or ERP outlets. It's worth a moment of care.
I also don't lie online. I don't lie to be liked IRL (plenty to my own misfortune), and I have the same approach online. I might act more cheerful than I really am, but I'm morbidly depressed and don't want to scare off activity partners that might be a small glimmer of light in the darkness. I don't think I've ever made up lies about myself to seem cool or deserving of sympathy or whatever. Though, I did have an interesting few years and some great stories. I rarely even tell them to anyone I don't know IRL.
So, no. No need to lie here. I'm not looking for people to be my fans (outside of for my art), nor do I feel validated by sympathy or the envy of online strangers. I'm here to RP. I'll talk about that. We might end up chatting about our day. If it goes further than that, it's usually that someone asks about me living in China (which I'm a bit tired of talking about to be honest), and we talk about RL stuff from there. Being back into online RP for almost 2 years now, I haven't made any new besties. Very friendly for months, sure. About the only way in which I care what others think of me is to not be remembered as a jerk and my artist reputation. Whether or not it's true that I deflowered a Mtv VJ, or if anyone believes me, doesn't fall into those categories.
I also don't lie online. I don't lie to be liked IRL (plenty to my own misfortune), and I have the same approach online. I might act more cheerful than I really am, but I'm morbidly depressed and don't want to scare off activity partners that might be a small glimmer of light in the darkness. I don't think I've ever made up lies about myself to seem cool or deserving of sympathy or whatever. Though, I did have an interesting few years and some great stories. I rarely even tell them to anyone I don't know IRL.
So, no. No need to lie here. I'm not looking for people to be my fans (outside of for my art), nor do I feel validated by sympathy or the envy of online strangers. I'm here to RP. I'll talk about that. We might end up chatting about our day. If it goes further than that, it's usually that someone asks about me living in China (which I'm a bit tired of talking about to be honest), and we talk about RL stuff from there. Being back into online RP for almost 2 years now, I haven't made any new besties. Very friendly for months, sure. About the only way in which I care what others think of me is to not be remembered as a jerk and my artist reputation. Whether or not it's true that I deflowered a Mtv VJ, or if anyone believes me, doesn't fall into those categories.