How close is the Blog You to the Real You?

A question for those of you who blog, and perhaps a hypothetical question for those who don’t blog.

How real is your blog? In other words, how close is your blog personality (the persona/voice you portray on your blog) to your real personality?

I know some people choose to blog anonymously.  Not really talking about that, I am talking about the persona you portray on your blog; how close is that to who you really are?

If you don’t blog, how real would you be? Would you use the opportunity to ‘be’ parts of you who you wouldn’t ordinarily be?

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if your blog personality is totally different to your real personality, I don’t think. As long as you are not deliberately misleading people and playing on their heart strings by pretending to be a sick old widow when you are actually a spotty, hormonal teen. But if you pretend to be a sexy, raunchy adventurous type when you are actually quite shy; well, I think that’s fine. Maybe even good.

Then, for those who know me in real life….how close do you think my blog personality is to my real personality? What are the differences or similarities, if any?

FIRST ANSWER BEFORE YOU READ THE REST!!

I don’t to influence your answer with my opinion, because my opinion could be totally off the mark.

Answer the question first, assholes.

Gratuitous kid pic while we wait

Here’s my answer: I think that my blog personality is pretty close to how I am in real life. About a 95% match. I chose to blog completely openly and publicly and as a result, there isn’t much opportunity for me to be someone I am not. Too many people who know me well, read my blog. (Hey, I finally found one person in my life who does not read my blog – my father. He refuses to read it. Too funny. I think he is scared what is going to read there. I am actually quite relieved)

However, I do think there are slight differences between my blog personality and my ‘real’ personality. Or rather let’s say, my inner self. I think that I am actually a bit more serious, more 'thinking' and less silly, frivolous than the personality I portray on my blog. I also don't portray the professional side of my personality, obviously. So I wonder if the impression you get of me is more frivolous than I really am.  I don't actually consider myself frivolous at all. The real me often feels far too serious; it is nice to be able to indulge the lighter side of myself.

Sometimes I am a little more sensitive too. Blogging so openly means that I have to develop a tough hide. Tougher than I normally have. Those are the main differences, I think. 

I am really interested to hear what my friends think. Friend Mel? Janine? Bee? Sister Mel? Sister Nina and brother Paul? SIL Martina? Tanja? V? People I work with? Others? Wat se julle?

Comments

[RainbowW]

my blog is just like me: uninteresting, unused, empty.

[Kirby]

In real life, I'm confined by the strictures of a relatively conservative religion. Point blank, you can't discuss this sort of stuff among friends and neighbors if you're an observant Jew. In that way, my blog allows me to "discuss" everything that's going on in my life. The anonymity allows me to call a spade a spade, something I would otherwise be reluctant to do.
And a huge part of it — for me, at least — is having those discussions with other folks who are equally invested (and 10x more educated) in ART and IVF. If you haven't gone through it, you don't get it. Not even my husband really gets it.
I'm the same person in real life, but I could never speak my mind the way I can in a blog.

[marie]

I feel like my blog is only the least angst-y parts of my life. It is who I am, but not all the way down. Because I started it for my family to keep track of where I am, I try to tell stories and do a bit of education about poverty, etc. but I don't reveal my innermost thoughts and worries like many bloggers do. In a way, I'm jealous of the revealing, but I also enjoy the fact that the blog makes me notice of the world around me so I can tell the stories.

[margalit]

My blog is VERY much like me. I can be funny, abrasive, I'm VERY opinionated, I'm ridiculously smart at times and spacy at other times. I am verbose, I like to look at different sides of things than most people do. I fight for the underdog. I hate our government and talk about it ad nauseum. I think my blog sounds a lot like me. The only person who has ever disagreed about that is my brother, who thinks my blog is 'depressing'. OK. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if it's a really stupid one, right?

The one thing that my blog shows that is absolutely like me is that I do not suffer fools lightly. I am very impatient and I expect people to perform their jobs respectfully and competently. Always. And if they don't, I go insane. Yeah, that's me in real life and on my blog!

[maiareads]

I don't blog for the simple reason I do not feel I could be the REAL me on it. If I tried to hide myself, be secretive about it and say what I wanted I would be paranoid.

It takes a special (STRONG!) individual to be out there, honestly.. And damn if blogs like yours are my favorites. Strong women not afraid to say what they feel.

[Jo]

I reckon I'm pretty much the same deal blog-wise as in real life. I probably struggle a little with the difference in meaning between speech and text in that I'm not always sure whether humor comes across the right way. Especially when I'd *like* to type a well raised eyebrow. But the *intention* is the same.

Because I blog anonymously, blogging is also a nice way of having the freedom to say how I *really* feel and have some friends left at the end of it :)

[Jo]

I reckon I'm pretty much the same deal blog-wise as in real life. I probably struggle a little with the difference in meaning between speech and text in that I'm not always sure whether humor comes across the right way. Especially when I'd *like* to type a well raised eyebrow. But the *intention* is the same.

Because I blog anonymously, blogging is also a nice way of having the freedom to say how I *really* feel and have some friends left at the end of it :)

[Nina - Favourite Sister]

How annoying, I wrote a fabulous comment and the bloody thing got lost. Shit.

I dont think your blog always portrays the "real you". I think you are more sensitive in real life. We love that you have so many brilliant, supportive friends online, it's amazing how wonderful they are. But it kills me when there are strangers that write horrible stuff to you or about you, I hate it.

You know I would rather eat my own arm off than have a blog. Plus it would be very difficult considering who I am, the press would have a field day. Maybe I should have a blog then the world can see who the real me is rather than what the tabloids write about me. Its difficult being in the media spotlight 24/7.

One last thing, You know I am the favourite, please just deal with it sista!

[Melany aka Supermom]

I'm pretty much the same. Although I might say things on my blog that I would normally internalise...which is not a bad thing. It's like telling things to my family / friends without having to look them in the eye lol

[Paul Jacobson]

I use my blogs to express different aspects of myself because each blog focuses on a topic. I blog authentically and don't hide behind a mask or a fake personality. If you take the sum total of my blogs you get a pretty accurate picture of part of me (there is a lot more to me than my writing as well).

[Sean Lloyd]

I think a lot of people blog to get away from the normal world and to have a sort of alter ego. But I don't think they lie so much as to claim they are young and hot when actually they are really, really old! The humour in my blog is my real humour, the situations are real, and the ones that are not real are so fake that readers can tell the difference. Well I hope so anyway...But it's fun to read blogs and the reason I read them is to laugh because I can't remember the last time I really laughed at something in The Cape Argus or in a magazine. Blogs are uncensored and allow us to talk like we do in real life, and without censorship from magazine editors and the companies that own these magazines.

I think they are the way forward and I have found that I hardly ever buy magazines anymore, because I can find everything on the internet. Sometimes you feel disconnected from a writer in a magazine, whereas in a blog you feel as if the person is talking to you and that's quite unique.

[The one with the looks... and the brains]

Having lived away from you guys for so long i guess i don't really know what you would be like if i didn't have your blog to base my "opinion"of you on.

Plus you have had a massive transformation from the sister that I was used to growing up for so long. All the pain and hurt that you went through seriously isolated you from the family and especially Nina and I as we were miles away and could not "be there" to be along side you during all the losses.
Its only in the last two years that things have come back to normal altho all of us are shit when it comes to keeping in contact, (Excluding Nina who is fantastic)

Love you

[Sarah]

I actually keep three separate blogs, one for people I know who are interested in what's going on in my life (which I started when I moved to the other side of the world), one that I use to try and nurture my creative side without the pressure of having people I know read it, and one that’s not public which I use for working through things for myself and writing things that I want to remember that probably don’t mean anything to anyone else. I think the real me is part of all those things

[V]

Hmmm, interesting question. Firstly my blog. In a way it is a reflection of who I am but also not. I say things on the blog that I probably would never say to most people in real life. I find that I can express myself much better by writing. My blog is basically an outlet for my feelings on losing a daughter although it started out as a means of letting everyone know how she was progressing.

Then, your blog. When I first met you and did not know what you were going through, I thought you were a little bit scary or rather witty in a scathing way. I think I got to know you through your blog more than I did in person. But from getting to know you in person and through the blog I would say that the blog does reflect your personality most of the time. Even your work emails (to your colleagues) tend to reflect the witty side of you which comes through on the blog. Basically, you are what you write. Else you have been tricking me all along!

A blog is generally a way of getting things out in the open. Some blogs I have read of moms who have lost babies make the moms seem like they are about to jump off a bridge, but in real life they are ok (well, semi-ok) but use the blog to express the worst of their feelings which they would not normally express to anyone in person. I am like that. But I get the feeling that you are able to express those feeling just as well face to face as in writing.

[BrooklynGirl]

I blog anonymously, but I do feel like my blog persona is very close to my real life persona.

I used to me more comfortable sharing things on my blog than I was in real life--which is why I started blogging in the first place--but now the personas have merged to such a degree that I get just as tongue-tied online. Go figure.

[Tara]

I'm pretty pollyanna on my blog and am fine with that. I have a lot of people IRL reading it and some would be offended if I was 100% authentic. I'd say I'm about 70% 'me' on my blog--I don't share about 30% of the things I might like to. I don't feel like I'm being dishonest--just trying to respect those who I know are visiting. If I wanted to be 100% me online, I'd probably start another blog anonymously. I don't have time for that right now.

[jenny]

My blog personality is pretty close to my real personality. The main difference would be that I do more bitching on my blog then I do in real life - it's an outlet for me.

[dish]

My blog me is the real me. A little quirky, funny (or at least I think so), and a nerd at heart. I have enough IRL friends that read the blog that it would feel weird to put forth a face that wasn't the real me. Besides, for me, it's about writing more and journaling.

[Jul]

Hmmm... in a lot of ways, it's a close match - my humor, my tone and my odd speech patterns (a cross between a Sherlock Holmes novel and a Tarantino movie) closely mirror my blog persona. I'm probably a LOT more shy in person than I come across on the site - guess it's the layers of abstraction. While I'd never, say, sing karaoke, I have no problems getting up in front of the entire internet and belting out the contents my soul.

While the things I DO write about reflect me fairly accurately, there is a fairly large volume of stuff I just won't write about. Damn near everyone whom I'd consider "close" to me reads the site... thus, issues/problems with menfolk and family members don't get addressed, ever. I'd consider it... I dunno... somehow disrespectful of the feelings involved. Kinda weird, I know. For all the openness I've shown about my intimate life, if I ever began seriously dating someone, odds are that the internet would never know.

[Melissa]

I've been blogging anonymously for about 3 weeks, inspired by you Tertia - quite sincerely.

I see it as an opportunity for me to dump everything that I can't share in the real world, the good - the bad - the ugly, about being a step mom and dealing with some of the feelings that come along with raising two kids with ADHD (and some other serious problems) that aren't biologically mine. About how it feels to wonder if/when I ever get pregnant, how that might change the relationship I have with those kids...and my husband. I have a lot of feelings that I need to let out that I would struggle to share with those closest to me in the real world, for fear of what they might think of me after they heard them.

So I would say that the blogging I've been doing for the last three weeks is more me than the me people see every day. I tend to be a "I'm fine" all the time kind of person and the blog allows me to let out all of the things that I really don't feel fine about. A sort of therapy, like writing in a journal.

Since I don't know you in person I can't comment on how close your personalities (blogging and real) are. But I can say that as a reader who looks forward to your posts each day you come across as a truly amazing person who has been through so much and still finds love and light in the world. And I think that would be pretty hard to express thru a blog if it wasn't who you actually are!

[SarahD]

I haven't yet separated my blog from my website, which contains my resume, portfolio, and obviously my very real identity...SO I feel like I'm really confined as to what I can say on it. That being said, I'm honest about the topics I do write about, even if those are only TV, general health, and goofy stuff.

My friends say my blog "voice" is different from my normal expression, but I am also an editor by profession. I find that I really have to make an effort to put my personality back into the writing because I'm trying to make it so precise. It still comes off funny (so I hear), but much drier and more droll than I normally would be, which is more like sarcastic and silly.

I'd love to eventually split my professional and private personalities online, one site for each, so I could be more free. Even though I'm pretty close to the vest, I still fear the day my mother starts reading it and decides it's not how a "good Christian woman" should talk. I have, however, used it to deliberately educate people in my life about issues I deal with (migraines, etc.) when I felt they weren't getting it.

[Andrea]

OK, I followed your rules and am answering before reading the rest of your post. I'm not currently blogging right now, but I have in the past, and I've been a frequent participator on online boards for eight years, so I have an "online personality" to be sure.

I would say I have three different personalities - my online personality, my IRL personality, and my internal personality. Of course I feel that the third one is the "real" me, but no one really knows that one, including my loving husband whom I have known nearly 12 years. Including my family too.

The IRL personality is kind of shy. I don't like being the center of attention, and like to be approached rather than approaching. I'm so afraid of making a huge gaffe that I am hesitant to put myself out there. If I do put myself out there and don't get a response I like or expect, I will evaluate and re-evaluate it until I've decided that everyone that saw or heard it hates my guts. I am very self-consicious about my looks as well, and for the most part think I am unattractive and fat. One-on-one with people, and in small groups with people I am very close to, I am funny (so I'm told), fun, interesting, and kind. But I am still inhibited.

My online personality is MUCH more outgoing. Of course, I have time to think of what to say, and I can fully express myself without watching someone get a glazed look in their eyes because I've been talking too long. I'm again told I can be wickedly funny and even been told I'm a good writer. I am not a good debator, so I hate it when someone contradicts me. Honestly, if I say the sun rises in the East and you say, "No, West!", I will not be able to convince you otherwise and will start to doubt myself. I will just ignore you instead. Looks don't matter here so that doesn't play into my interactions with people. My online personality has connected with many other online personalities. I have met many of them IRL (and they were probably wondering who the IRL Andrea is because she doesn't match the online Andrea). I care deeply for many of my online friends. They are very real to me.

My REAL personality - the one no one but me knows - is the most complex. It is the most spiritual. I have an astounding faith in God that most people don't know about (shame on me). I believe the gospel of Christ is such a beautiful gift that I don't understand why everyone doesn't embrace it. People's lack of faith makes me very sad. Sad for them. I feel that they are missing so much. I have a deep and passionate love for my family that they don't know about (shame on me). I feel so strongly about so many issues - I will call the "social" issues because I don't consider myself a political person - and I am astounded that anyone can think differently, because I feel my thoughts are the most reasonable and most compassionate of all. The real me loves easily, and is hurt easily. I rejoice over little things and get my heart broken over little things. I am extremely perceptive and feel I understand things about people and the world that most people don't. I am extremely judgmental of people who do selfish things that hurt other people - directly or indirectly. I have a extreme sense of right and wrong, a heavy conscience. My desire is to do things for the good of everyone - even at my own expense. My real personality doesn't care a whit what people look like because it is so irrelevant.

Unfortunately, my IRL person often keeps this internal person from really coming out. I don't know what I'm afriad of! My online personality is probably closer to my real personality than my IRL one because some of the inhibitions are removed.

Wow Tertia I didn't mean for this to be a gut-spilling confessional, but you asked! :-) Thanks for the opportunity. Good post.

[Gorgeous fave sister Mel]

I often read your blog and think you are lucky that you can reinvent yourself whenever you choose to. While its a pretty honest potrayal of some of you, its not quite the real you.
I think you are more serious, way more sensitive, not quite as perky as always potrayed. I also think that you are less of a fence sitter than you sometimes make yourself out to be. I think you don't want to offend people so tend to be quite tra lah laaaaaaah about somethings.
Tess & I suspect you are actually a closet H.C. and you hide in the cuboard clapping and singing Jesus songs. (softly)
I do think you are very honest though. And funny and witty and fairly brainy. Oh, and sometimes boring. She never wants to play with me!

[Ally]

They are one and the same.

[Vanessa]

Firstly, thank you for your blog which I try to read each day to keep myself in contact with SA (which I miss so much) and to make me feel good about having teenagers. I loved my children as babies/toddlers but wow it is hard work as you are clearly aware. You have inspired me to write my own blog which I started a while back but as I've not had too much time - it's on a backburner for now. My blog was about my life in the UK and the comparisons. It was truly me - chatty, humourous and informative. I have a natural curiosity to see, investigate and ask loads of questions.
Having known you at school and working with you on the reunion committee I think you blog is very you in it's directness and honesty. This is clearly a quality which has made you "blog queen". Well done!

[sheilah]

hehe...I'm with Rainbow...no one reads my blog anyway so I am just me there...kind of like talking to myself...

[21stCenturyMom]

Channeling Frank Sinatra....

"I gotta be meeeee.... I gotta be meee....."

Not all of me, though. My blog is just a slice of me.

[anne nahm]

mt blog is my Superman cape and underoos. In real life I'm Clark Kent.

[Heather]

I think my blog gives a pretty accurate "core sample" of who I am. One post is completely happy - all sunshine and giggles, and the next post is in the pit os despair - all doom and gloom and woe is me... And those posts were 10 minutes apart. I think it gives a pretty accurate picture of a manic depressive personality. I have good weeks and bad weeks. I have posts dripping with sappy "I love you," sentiments, or bursting with happines, drowning in sorrow, anger-filled, and then just "for your information," type posts. I'm pretty random - my blog is pretty random. I don't think it's 100% accurate because I only blog at the height of emotion, or sheer boredom. So while I may seem completely frazzled and psychotic, I am only partially frazzled and psychotic. So is it deceptive? A bit. But not intentionally. I don't think your blog could be 100% representative of you unless you walked around with a camera strapped to your head that gave streaming feeds while also displaying your inner thoughts, you know?

[mac]

I'm exactly the person who I portray on my blog. At least I think so. I mean, you never know if your personal view is skewed!

[Summer]

I blog in my own voice; as I write I am speaking the words in my head, so they come out with the same meter and phrasing I use when I speak. But there are a few ways in which the blog-me diverges from the real-me. Some things I express only on my blog. For the last 18 or 20 months or so, I've been writing a lot about my secondary infertility and the way it's tearing me up, and I know that quite often I sound far more depressed on my blog than I seem in real life. There are also certain things that I refuse to discuss on my blog -- family issues, naughty things -- because I am relatively open about my identity and I don't want my words to be used against me. Yet I manage to speak my truth, and I think that any of my readers who met me would recognize me from my words.

[JennyK]

I would say I'm pretty much the same, with the exception that I find I blog when I'm more emotional than normal -- as an outlet for those emotions....so anyone reading might tend to think I'm more effusive than I really am in day-to-day life.

I also tend to keep work-related stuff off of it, for the simple reason that it just isn't relevant to most of what I'm blogging about.

[~ bridgette ~]

I think my blog is a slightly more optimistic version of myself. I don't blog daily and I think I have about 3 readers so it probably wouldn't matter if I were more vocal on certain issues.

[Tammy]

I am much more expressive on my blog. I am much better at typing than speaking. In person, I feel like a bumbling idiot. But on a computer I can be who I truly am inside. I am a very self-conscious person. For example - I have several online friends that I've been fortunate enough to meet in person. When we talk online - I'm just my normal goofy self. But when I met them in person, I felt like a ridiculous dork and was extremely shy.

Blogging allows me to be me. Because I don't think I'm always truly myself in person. Blogging allows me an outlet to express emotions that I would otherwise not communicate.

Tertia, I think your blog is a true reflection of your G&D self.

[Jan]

I think my blog personality and my "real" personality are pretty much the same. Some stuff doesn't show up, like I'm inclined, in real life, to lose my temper, and since I don't blog in real time, generally nobody sees that.

Also there are areas of my life that are off limits on the blog that I don't consider so private that I wouldn't talk about them in person. For example, to an in-person friend, I feel free to kvetch about things about my husband that are making me crazy, but I try very very hard not to do it on the blog. Ditto for all but the most superficial elements of my job.

[Ali]

Ok, so now we are very curious.....who is Nina (we know she is favourite sister) but why is she a celeb????? Do we know her?????

[Suzie-Q.]

I don't blog, but, i do post online daily on a number of boards and I am exactly the same in IRL, except even funnier b/c there is no one to step on my one liners!!!!! ;)

[Lauryan]

I don't blog seriously, but I am on various online Forums and mail groups... I am exactly the same IRL as I am on all of these... Perhaps a bit more open, but otherwise the same!

IMHO People should accept you (me) the way you (I) are. If they can't - that's THEIR issue not yours (mine)!

And likewise.. I am confortable with who I am, so I portray who I am... It's still me - just online!

[Colleen]

I find that I censor myself a bit on my blog. What is there is truly me, but I leave out the curse words I use occasionally in my real life and I don't dish the details about certain topics to protect my family and friends. Also, when I compose posts I want them to be perfect and while they rarely are, I also wish I wouldn't do that. I would write and post more if I felt like I could just throw up on the page so that whatever I'm really thinking at the time is out there regardless of grammar, sentence structure, etc. I would like my blog voice to be a bit more open and relaxed. Maybe your post will spur to do that!

[Robin]

I think (hope?) that I am the same person in my blog and in real life. After years of participation in message boards I'm very comfortable baring my soul to a computer. I'm a dumper by nature. Whether it's to a keyboard or a living breathing human being I have a deep visceral need to share what I have inside of me.

Good question. Now I'm off to read the rest of your post (very disciplined of me wasn't it - giving self pat on back)

[Billie]

My blog does reflect my true personality, but is just a small part of who I am and the "big picture". I started it as a way to keep my friends and family up-to-date with the happenings of my twin girls, and because of the title "The Story of Holland and Eden" I feel a little bit restricted to topics relative to them.

I worry a little when I meet people who have read the blog. I think maybe they see me in too pure of light. They think I am a perfect mom, which I am absolutely NOT. This is why I like to post some of my struggles along with the good stuff, so that I don't set up an image of myself that is way too good to be true.

Sometimes I get an urge to start my OWN personal blog, where I could vent a bit more about different topics and indulge myself a little bit more, but I don't think I could handle maintaining two blogs! I'm sure as my girls grow up the blog will evolve to reflect more of the whole family. I think that as much as my girls will love reading about themselves growing up, it will be interesting and valuable to know their mom in such a unique way. Imagine reading something like this written by your own mother someday. I would love to have such a window into my mom's mind when she was my age raising me.

[Adeleida]

Well, my blog, it is me, blogging, there is no other Adeleida that I know of, that lives in this body of mine, that blogs when I'm not looking. It is all authentic, but it reflects just a small percentage of who I am at this point. I am very selective about what I share online. I don't share the deep personal stuff. Well, not yet, but I doubt whether I would ever. My blog is just an online diary, sometimes heavily opinionated, but still just a little glimpse of my real life.

[Judy]

My blog is me, but I probably don't put ALL of me out there...too many people (like my MOTHER) read it! HAHA But, I don't do anything differently on my blog than I would do IRL. I just don't have everything I think on there...that might get a little sticky with the family! ;-)

[Michele]

I am pretty close to the person who I am on my blog. When I first started online (over 10 years ago) had two different personalities - one for real life and an online one. The online personality was much more outgoing, dancing on the tables sort of girl. I was painfully shy in real life. At some point in my life I blended the two together. I was more outgoing in my real life and more "emotional" in my online life. Part of me is starting to wonder if the real me is really boring though as no one reads my blog anymore. *sob* heh

[sandi]

I blog as a diary for me and my children. My blog absoultely is me. Some nitty gritty details omitted as to not die of embarrassment but otherwise the real me. I personally only enjoy blogs when they are true to form. Often it is very easy to tell that people are just putting on a show.

[Mama Dramas]

It is the real me but the incomplete me. I do not want to hurt my husband or friends so skip the controversial topics I would love to dig into about human relationships. But the writing is organic and real, but it could be much more if nobody I knew read it.

[MsShad]

Facinating question as I was just comtemplating on it this morning. I don't think me and my blog have the same personality at all. The blog seems younger than I am, and also more funny. Also, the blog doesn't have MS, and I do. There was a time when me and the blog didn't have teeth, but now I do have teeth.

Great question, and comments.

[L.]

My blog is a little piece of 100% ME.

I don`t have the time (or inclination) to make it a comprehensive reflection of every aspect of my life, and there is certainly some stuff I leave out, but what I do say pretty much sums up the important parts of who I really am.

I began my blog after we moved to San Francisco, primarily as a way to keep in touch with my friends back in Tokyo. After a while, a few of my new friends here started to read it, too, after I decided to share it with them -- and they said it has helped them to understand me better. This tells me I reveal MORE on my blog than I do with new people in real life, not less!

[Simonne]

My blog me is very close to my real me. I think I'm funnier on my blog, possibly a bit more engaging and free than I am in real life, but I'm not sure. I know some of my friends who have read my blog have been really surprised by the person that they've come across, but whether that is because they didn't think I could write as well as I do (or think I do), I'm not sure. For me, my blog is cathartic, it gets things out and away from my heart ...things that could do damage if I kept them in ...so I think it *is* mostly me. I'm possibly not as frivolous as I make out in relation to shopping and stuff, but I don't make anything up, so perhaps it's actually I'm more frivolous than I think I am? :-) Seeing it in print makes you think twice!

I think you are very you in your blog. Not entirely though. I think you deliberately tread lightly in some areas, but I think you are 98% of the time just you. I think that to real-life people who know you, you might come across or be a bit more serious than we see you online, but then I guess that's why our blogs are an extension of us.

And that's enough of that. The need to read the rest of your post outweighs my interest in continuing to analyse you or me.

[Simonne]

(Snort) Not a bad call on your Dad's part ...he'd probably read a 'cooter' post, have a coronary, and that'd be that. I think there are some things Dad's just like to keep their heads buried over! :-)

[Not on Fire]

I post anonymously. I like to tell the unvarnished truth in my blog. It is the close friend that I can tell all my sh*t to. It is sometimes horrible things and sometimes good things. It is not always the nice side of me, the happy confident side. It is the insecure, hurt and painful stuff and the boring stuff too. It is just the stuff that I want to get out.

[DD]

Even though I feel I write honestly and from my guts, when someone tells me that they think I am "strong" in response to one post or another, I feel like a fraud because I would never describe myself as that.

I also think many of my readers think I'm outgoing, when in fact I'm extremely shy.

So...I would say my blog portrays who I wold like to be in real life.

[jette]

I've had a couple of blogs in the past, but they all seem to die down because I never have enough time....AND because I kinda feel uncomfortable being myself in front of people I don't know. Silly eh....? I do it to try get out of my shell, but....I guess I'm not really a blogger :-/

[Janine]

Mmm. A bit late to this party - reason on my blog.
Don't know that I can answer this the way you want me to, because I actually feel I got to know you through your blog. You started it just as I was getting to know you in person and I don't think at that point in our friendship you would've shared half the things you put in your blog to me personally. My opinion of it now is that this is all you and more - more than you would share in person, because we both have children and we can never finish a sentence when we're all together.

[Nicole]

I am 100% genuine on my blog. It's the only place that I can be, and perhaps that's why I enjoy it so much. But it does mean that I am really surprised by the fact that anyone reads it at all. I am not a nice person and I don't have a nice blog.

[the mad momma]

hi Tertia,
thats an interesting question.. what made you think of such a post? i am curious because I did a similar post two days before you and I was surprised to see someone else thinking just like me :)did someone ask you this very question?

here's the link to mine... http://themadmomma.blogspot.com/2007/04/who-fk-is-mad-momma.html

[Peter_Dorinzon]

Perfect work. Great site. Add more pictures. It'll make your site more attractive.