I struggle with this dilemma nearly daily.
It has many facets.
To log on or not to log on? To post or not to post? To click or not to bloody well CLICK! I am in a quandary. A daily, stultifying, mind paralysing quandary. Whether to let that bit of me out there, in a box, in a post – or whether to keep it to myself, post it on my own private little blog that NO_ONE can see (I rather like the idea of this regardless).
And it reminds me somewhat of having a conversation with Noa about how she wanted to present herself on Facebook, the kind of person she wants to appear to be to other people. And in some ways she wanted to control this, by posting certain photos, showing her with the people she loved and respected. To somehow control how she understood herself, based on what she let out there into the world as a representation of that self. Tricky. But worth it.
Some people I know seem to have a very natural online persona. (Examples, Z and Nibor?) Is this developed consciously? and through repetition? (I think I know it is in N’s case) or unconsciously, through some kind of innate and genius wit which comes naturally to the person, already pre-disposed to be hilarious and insightful in fleshy (as opposed to “real world”) context, as well as in a cyber (so old fashioned that word, but I still like it!) world? (Perhaps one NicholasP fits this bill?).
I suppose I also feel motivated to find an answer to this question more so now that I rather poorly maintain a Twitter, which although I am coming to enjoy – also terrifies me. Some kind of G (as opposed to D or C) Grade fame is potentially attainable through this kind of medium, perhaps because it is, or can be much more public than Facebook (on which I tend to me much more, open?). And the reason I felt the need to begin to maintain something which in essence, I got along very well without beforehand, is the UNICEF YA role, which I in some way see as a motivator to maintain some kind of informative, advocacy platform through which to promote my own and UNICEF’s values, ideas, projects, interesting titbits.
Without becoming entirely too self-absorbed, I think that one potential solution could be to 1. have faith in my own sense of humour. 2. have faith in the fact that if I find it interesting, others will too. And 3. Not to share just because everyone else does?
Good lord, so much written. Oh the trials of first world problems.
