[Enigmatik]

if sometimes people on these forums arent who/what they say they are? i dont mean to be negative but after reading a specific persons posts and considering theres at least one in EVERY forum, im blown away and stuck between wondering if i should feel wrong for thinking 'give me a break' or if im not the only one thinking this sometimes when it comes to certain member(s)' posts. Trust me I believe that 99% are legit and come here for the right reasons but sometimes you gotta wonder about the reasons behind the other 1%...
Absolutely i am not pointing fingers, nor will i ever, i am just curious about the general idea/observation and as to whether or not im the only one here who ever thinks that/this way...

Night Everyone Curiousity always gets the cat eh

[PasDeDeux]

I wonder too but I think that one has to wonder and take everyone with a grain of salt on the net....

[JustAPixie]

You can wonder and crack your head over it, but what's the harm in answering someone who isn't who they say they is??? You will never know. It's they same thing when you give money to a begger, you don't know what he's going to do with it, but that's not your problem. Don't be too cynical of people... be careful with personal details on the net, that's about all you can do.

If one person is revealed as a fake, then you will start searching for the next one etc and you will lose trust on this site...

[AlteredState01]

When I first joined PC, I noticed the same thing, but TanyaGrave put it best. It will drive you crazy wondering about that kind of crap.

I have only recently began posting on forums and it can become quite addictive. I thought it kind of strange, too, at first, but now I understand why some seem to "fly" through all the forums from time to time.

There are just some days that one really has nothing to talk about or cannot put it into words what they are feeling yet still feel a need for connection. Sometimes an individual's participation can only come in the form of acknowledgement and understanding (and only needs a quick "emoticon" or "with ya" kind of answer), and I think that's cool! I find myself doing that now, too. I think it is healthy, actually. It give both members a boost. One gets acknowledgement for their pain; the other gets a certain satisfaction in knowing that they may have helped someone to feel just a little bit better, and gets them out of their own heads for awhile. Or, some might not have that much to say at all and are just around for the feeling of belonging to a community.

That is why I came here. I isolate because of my illness and the loneliness was getting to a point where I needed to do something, otherwise it would have been another trip to the hospital for me.

Although it has been a little rough for me at times (I'm just a tad dramatic), I have had to learn to adjust my "behaviours" quite a bit - how I respond to and/or write a post; the language/wording I use, etc. - in order to accommodate all the different types of personalities and illnesses here.

I think this is a GREAT WAY for me to learn how to "neutralize" (or rather, balance out) my thoughts, behaviours and speech which, hopefully, will transfer over into my "real" life. If there is one place that I can learn this fast, it is here!

There is lots of great advice and learning to be had here. I hope you take advantage of this and I hope it will, someday, help you to understand more fully, your own struggles and how to deal with them in ways you (or your therapist) may not have otherwise thought of.

I'll probably get smoked for this, but, I like all the "eccentricities" of the people here. One thing I find hard to take in the real world is all the cookie-cutter-type personalities out there - soooo boring.


Of course, now I am realizing that I am contradicting what I said earlier about what I hope to achieve on this site, but the one thing I do not want to lose is my uniqueness. I just have to find a way to mingle amongst the "normals" without creating as much havoc as I currently do because of my "uniqueness."

You're not the only one to have thought this way. Give it more time, and you will even see more interesting patterns emerge. I have, but that is how my thinking works - I tend to look for connections/patterns in things - something I never really noticed before until I came here, and did the very same thing you did - posted it! Although I knew that my diagnosis included tendencies toward this, I honestly did not "see" it as being a major issue. But I now know differently. And now, I know to look for this type of thnking, especially when it is waaaay off the beaten path, and try to adjust my ways so they are not so freakish to other people.

Man, I hope this makes sense, because I really don't feel like editing today....

Later!
Altered State

[Perna]

I agree that it doesn't really matter to me about whether people are who they claim. I kind of think, too, that everyone, in a sense, IS who they claim in that they may be trying on different thoughts, feelings, ways of being kind like Altered State mentions learning to adjust behaviors and how helpful being here is with that. I look at it as just another way of practicing different ways of being, trying things on "for size"

No matter what website you go to there are always going to be people on them that are not who and what they say they are. People are taught in computer classes to not post the truth about themselves as protection from on line preditors as on line preditors, cops, and other people are not always who they say they are.

I personally do not use my real life name address, phone number or even personal email address when in on line support groups specifically because doing so could and possibly would leave me and my family open to on line preditors.

There is one woman who's life story about on line preditors and posing as a child to catch on line preditors. She used the last name of posey in the life time movie about her helping the police by not being herself (an adult) on line.

Yes there are people out there who are not who and what they say they are. This does not always mean those people using not real names and so on and changing their life situations around a bit for their own protection have not experienced some or all of the situations that they depict on line. it just means the readers have to keep in mind that this is on line and no one REALLY knows everyone face to face so protect yourselves by not opening yourself up as in personal information that may lead on line preditors to your own real life front doors.

[Enigmatik]

i sincerely hope i never upset anybody, its just a very interesting observation to me and i agree it may simply be a piece of my 'behavior' that i need to re-evaluate and so on, i try my best not to judge others as i know what it feels like to be wrongly judged/labelled, i suppose it was just something that interested me, and of course i plan on doing my best not to let it become an issue i understand there are many facets to ones personality and i know that im definately one who bounces around from time to time, but of course it is the internet and it is a public forum so to speak where anybody who has a couple minutes can join and post. of course my observation came from reading some others who also pointed a finger as to say 'whats real and whats not with this so & so', as i said i hope i never offended anybody it was DEFINATELY not my intention, merely a conversational piece i guess. Thanks though for the responses as reading them does make me step back and evaluate myself and my 'wording' of things. I appreciate it, and I appreciate the open door policy this site holds and the non judgemental ways of the people here. I guess I can only promise to do my best to be the same in order to be a welcomed member of the board, I hope i haven't ruined that chance.

[kimthecatlover]

Honestly, this is one of the forums where I feel safe about being myself. I know on here I am accepted.

[Sarah116]

Yes, on Yahoo Answers and ask really bad sometimes nasty or even stupid questions for points and attention sometimes even to abuse the site. But you can track them or type their name on a Search engine or ID for a site like AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail etc. For example lets say their ID for PC is 5735832573856 and they seem a bit odd and you wonder , in their profile it says that they are bannana479284792385 at AOl then type that in and most of the time you get great results! If they are abusing the site and there is a abuse button then report them! But PC has been one of the best sites and creating a safe, spam free, great site environment. Some are unkept and full of spam, bad postings and people whom abuse the site or never post for years.

[nothemama8]

you mention curiosity killed the cat , but remember satisfaction broght it back, meaning it's okay to be warey(sp) most ppl here are on the up and up, we have only seen a few who try to play head games here
Welcome
Angie

[sabby]

Maybe we can't always figure out who is for real and who isn't in an online/internet forum....but who's to say that the guy/gal sitting next to you on the bus that you strike up a conversation with isn't someone other than who they project to be?? As with any human connection, whether online or face to face, one needs to be vigilant, keep one's eyes and ears open for clues...and most of all, go with your gut feelings. Don't we all have our own special "personas" that we use when in certain situations or places? Are those "personas" really who we are, or are they only who we want to be at that time??? I know, I know....more questions eh? hehehe

Hugsssssssss
Jean

[JustAPixie]

I don't think you offended anyone Angie, it's an interesting topic.