Erica discussed how we come across in person after people have known us only through our blogs. It’s worthy of a lot more discussion, so I’m reviving the subject over here.
I like to think that what you get on the blog is what you get in person, but a lot of you can speak better to that than I can. I’ve been told that I am either just as crazy or that I am more reserved (read: pleasant) than I come across. I don’t know — I say things as I see them, and I don’t know that I hide all that much (other than some of my innermost feelings, and yes, I do have feelings sometimes! LOL).
Like today, for instance, I couldn’t resist insulting someone when the opportunity arose. Town Crier (a pain in my arse at work) must’ve thought she was looking pretty and well-rested today, and well, bitch is a hag any day you look at her. So I found a way to slip it into our conversation that, “Boy, we all look like hell today! None of us looks like we should be interacting with other humans after that conference!” And she looked so stunned, that how dare I say she looks like hell. I disappeared into Angie’s office after that because I wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation. I really don’t think I’m a mean person, but when someone has yelled at me so hard that she backed me into a bathroom stall (about a year ago), well, I get my kicks whenever I can.
But am I always combative? Not really. In fact, I am actually pretty helpful and reserved most of the time. Sure, I get my snark in when I’m blogging or when I’m behind closed doors with my friends, but it’s just no fun to talk about all the “nice” shit I do in a day — who would read that kind of blog?
Some of Erica’s commenters bring up the fact that we get an idea of what other bloggers not only look, but also act, like, whether we’ve seen a photo of them or not. I think we all like to put a face with a name or a webpage, but when we don’t see the person, we kind of look at how their pages are designed (i.e., if they’re cool or if they’re a mess) and kind of base some assumptions on that. Another commenter said she finds intelligent people to be attractive, so she gets the sense that we’re all good-looking, if that’s the case. And of course we are — who could argue with that? 😉
I have several photos of myself available on this site, which show my moods pretty well, but that isn’t even one-tenth of it. I hate how I appear in photos, but maybe that’s just because I’ve never been happy with how I look. I mean, it’s clearly me on film, and I guess I just have to become comfortable with that.
I once dated a guy who said I come across as an airhead in person. We didn’t last more than three dates, by which time he finally realized I could think circles around him. 😉 I’ll admit I’m flighty and indecisive at times, but that’s but one facet of my personality. I’d rather think I just go with the flow and am not overly picky about too many things. And I can be very quiet when I first meet someone, not that I am judging them, but I am really trying to learn as much as I can about them before I decide how much of myself to reveal.
I guess, then, what I want to know is how we come across online as compared to in-person. Do you get what you think you see, or are we only showing a little bit of our true selves? Would you ever stop reading a blog because you didn’t much care for the wizard behind the curtain? Or do you meet people in-person and suddenly develop an even more intense addiction to their words? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂