Quote:
Originally Posted by RealJames
If you think that's creepy you should see Japanese people pretending to be western, idolizing to a point of sickness.
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Aah, visions of Elvis, but with different eyes.
But that's not creepy to me - sometimes its an improvement and a mark of some unrealized talent.
Back on topic.....
Back before there was a WWW, I moderated a bulletin board under an assumed identity for a while. It was at the request of the owner. As James pointed out, people do indeed treat you differently based on their perceptions. And dogsbody is soooo right about the gender (and other aspects) showing through in the writing. It's very hard to mask.
I was passing as a male on a male-only site because (1) no women were allowed, (2) they had problems with a few users that I had special insight about from running my own BBS, and (3) I was game for the challenge. I kept my age fairly accurate, but I still did
a lot of editing of my comments for gender bias.
I finally "blew" my own cover. A very close friend was moving across country and was begging to meet "Max". I had given him a cold shoulder online and I wasn't believed when I told the truth in person. Then when the owner verified my story I almost lost a friend. Fortunately the reasons made sense later and we have remained friends for the last 20 years.