Hello! My name is Derek and I suffer from Multiple Online Personality Disorder…
I would say it all started back when I first received access to the internet back in 1997.
My first venture into the world-wide web was through (believe it or not) WebTV. I grew up in a household that believed computers were a fad (“we don’t need one” I was told) and all I could afford on my own money was a WebTV. WebTV allowed you to hold and change IDs as frequent as you would like. I blew through a couple hundred IDs before I settled on a few.
Fast forward to today…
I still hold on to a few of the identities that I created back in the late 90’s. I think I’m really holding on to them for sentimental value. As it stands right now, the most frequently used profile that I have been sticking with is: derekWwyatt.
I have a work alter ego that I hold strictly for my day job. At Dick Hannah Subaru, I’m known as: Subarudo. Subarudo was created because I was requested to have a work specific profile that would interact with those in the Subaru community. As long as I’m the Internet Marketing Assistant as Dick Hannah Subaru, I’ll keep that profile. If I ever leave, it becomes their property.
I have a third persona that I will tweet from every once in a while for when I need to vent (it’s one of the originals from 1997). I tend to talk a lot about Basketball, Martial Arts, Movies, Politics, etc on this profile.
I’m not even going to get into the fact that I hold admin access to over a dozen accounts that I will post from time to time for clients and friends.
So why keep everything separate???
That’s what I’ve been asking myself…
Part of me doesn’t want those who follow @derekWwyatt to be offended by what my alter egos may have to say. I still feel the need to express my thoughts and creativity, but yet don’t want my professional connections to see me in a different light. Another reason I try to keep everything separate is because I can get quite animated about Martial Arts and UFC. I’m pretty sure 90% of the people who follow me on twitter don’t want to hear me cheer on GSP as he pummels Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 with a series of aggressive tweets.
This confession of multiple online personalities really stems from the problem that I currently find myself having. Which is keeping everything updated and current with relevant information. I have trimmed down the number of profile significantly and I’m looking forward to keeping two identities moving forward (a professional and a playful side).
Question: Am I putting in all this effort for nothing?
Is it wise to have a professional and a playful persona on the internet? I think so… I believe that it will keep my content focused to what that particular personality is really trying to say.
I’m really looking for validation in that I’m not alone. Do you hold multiple personalities for the sake of keeping certain thoughts more anonymous that others?