Mom? Is that you?

So as I've wallowed in blog construction the past few days, a certain peculiarity has come to my notice.

Each day, I've been building my blog. Whenever I have to stop that, I've been thinking about my blog. Agonizing over names, color choices, graphics, descriptions, gadgets, etc. My mom left me sitting in front of my blog at 10:00 last night, and when she came down at 7:30 the next morning she found me in the exact same spot. (Yes, I had gone to bed in the middle, but not to all appearances) So why all the time, all the effort, for something as abstract as a blog? And this phenomenon is not limited to myself and my blog. Almost everyone has some kind of Internet presence, be it through forums, blogs, facebooks, myspaces, emailing...you get the idea. Most of these presences are meticulously constructed combinations of words, music, graphics, and ideas. Think about it: our Internet presence is us as is defined by thousands of people who will never meet us. This thought seems either scary or cool. Scary, because you must give a complete picture of yourself through a few pictures and words. Cool--admit it--because you don't actually have to give a picture of yourself.

This gives rise to the key question I started pondering yesterday. If someone met a friend or family member on the Internet, would they even recognize them? A seemingly quiet person might retreat to the web to shout at and insult others without consequence. A seemingly aggressive person might become kind and encouraging to those they cannot see face to face. Nerds can become cool, or failing students can become geniuses. Old people become young, young people grow up. People often strike a strange self-contradiction in which they hide some aspects of their character and at the same time reveal their dreams and hopes with a startling vulnerability.

It's strange to think, surfing the web, about what sort of people you really meet. Sure, your cyber classmates or the other aficionados on that unicycling forum are your best friends...but what do you really know about them? If I met my dad or mom, my siblings, my best friend, my teacher, on a blog, forum, or facebook, would I even recognize them? Would they recognize me?

I find this thought to be fascinating...and a little troubling. It has certainly made me aware of how I present myself in cyberspace. I'm ashamed to say that I have taken advantage of facelessness in the past, and strict honesty has loosened its bounds somewhat. After all, no one will ever know or care... Or will they?