I’m a semi-private individual. In that, I will speak of things I am comfortable talking about by my own filtering. Once I let it out and speak of it, it could very well mean that I was comfortable posting that and almost nothing can make me feel guilt or embarrassment of saying it.
One thing I have observed people slipping on is that, people tend to have no filter. So they go on and on and on about themselves, not having a sense of the mind to think that someone out there, anywhere, could be documenting them. Sadly, there are those people that are out there.
On one hand, someone just wants to communicate, project themselves, let others know who they are. On another hand, they won’t know whether or not they’re being documented so that in turn, are re-broadcast to another community or someone else who is gonna just have a field day with some aspects of what you spoke about that could later crop up when you least expect it.
Often times you’ll hear people say that they don’t care what others think. It’s funny how most of the time that is uttered and it is challenged, people end up folding pretty fast at times. It implies that yes, you do to a degree, care about what people think of what you’ve said.
So this is why I’m semi-private. If I have the thought of ‘I don’t think I’m that comfortable talking about this’ then it is simply not spoken of. I think some people need to occasionally think that way.
There is some truth to the unwritten rule of the internet where, you shouldn’t gush too much about all aspects of your life. Reserve that for online journals or blogs.
I won’t tell someone where I work and live or anything else personally identifying, but ideas and values? Totally open on that.
As for not caring what people think. You might be getting hung up on the definition of “care.” I think we all care, to a greater or lesser extent, about things we profess to not care about. Speaking specifically for myself, I might seem to care to some extent, but I don’t let what others say or do affect who I am. That’s an important line to draw, and to recognise when it’s being approached and to disengage when it gets pushed, but learning to do so comes with age and experience.
I’ve been using my real name on the internet for 30 years or so now. I’ve hosted public radio shows, I run/admin several online LGBTQ communities and I’ve had newspapers articles done about my transition and activism.
It’s absolutely possible that someone with the desire could utilise that against me. But it’s unlikely and it hasn’t happened yet. And in the mean time, having to hold myself back and be constantly on edge about what I say and where I say it would impact my use of the internet in a way I don’t like, every single time I use it.
So for me, it’s worth the risk.
Just sprinkle in some bullshit every now and then
I’m a little too open if I’m being honest. I lack any sort of community in my daily life so I think I share more because it gives me a false sense of it. Like I know its not healthy but I feel like I can’t get it any other way
Be cautious, you are talking to potentially thousands of strangers after all. But the point of social media is to be, well, social, so you have to share something personal to have it be worth someone else’s time. We’re here for connection, don’t let the corporate fascist panopticon steal that from us because we’re too afraid to be genuine.
I’m open to talk about computer stuff (mainly Arch Linux BTW), video games, and a few miscellaneous stuff, but aside from that, not really open.
Depends where on the internet I’m in.
On here and when I was on reddit, I’m a bit more guarded and speak in broader terms in regards to family/friends/experiences so as not to pin too many identifiable specifics on me.
In another long forgotten corner of the internet that like at most 30 people congregate in, I’m a bit more open but not overly so.
Sometimes I’m open, but I also lie a lot, to keep the AI bots and advertising algorithms guessing. What’s real and what’s fake? Who knows, we live in a post-truth world anyway.
Before having US citizenship, I probably would not mention any political things and like be vague about my location.
But now I have US Citizenship, and yes I know it’s not a magic shield, but it’s much better than non-citizens, so now I feel a bit more confident in just saying:
FUCK DONALD TRUMP, TREASONOUS PIECE OF SHIT
I have a lot of anecdotes and I really wanna share and that’ll inevitibly make it easier to track me down… but whatever… I have no one irl that would wanna listen, so I’m gonna tell my story on the internet, leave a permanent mark in history. Hi future historians 👋
I already disclosed my ethnicity and city… I don’t care anymore.
I feel safe sharingthe general area of where I previously lived.
But current location, yes I’d just be vague and the city is the most precise I’m comfortable sharing.
I mean some twitch streamers shate their face, name, and city and their address is still private, I should be fine since I’m a nobody and no names or face is shared.
But I’m still gonna guard my family secrets, well not the abusive things, that I need to vent about, but I’m not gonna tell you where my parents set up shop for example… don’t want any shitheads doing vandalism.
Not gonna tell my name, not gonna show my face.
I mean, I doubt any normie is actually gonna be able to find me from a few anecdotes, you need a lot of government databases to find who I am.
The NSA, tho, I have no doubt that they can find me if targeted this account, but I’m not that scared, there are like a million anti-trump comments online, what are the odds that I get persecuted? (I’m gonna jinks it aren’t I)
Hey if my address get leaked, I have an excuse to move xD, I’m getting tired of this place… but yea I’d try to not intentionally leak it.
I’m quite transparent, and have been exposed to doxxing before, unfortunately, with random packages appearing on my doorstep and such. Still, I keep being perhaps a bit too naive, as being cynical would make my internet presence quite a lot more demanding of me.
I own my actions in life, including mistakes and failures. I don’t let it weigh me down, nor feel ashamed of who I was. So threatening me with shame is fortunately quite ineffective.
I have no issues speaking my mind on emotional topics like death, war, and politics, which naturally makes some people despise me. That is their problem however, not mine, as I believe communication is key, even among enemies.
I feel like I’ve found a balance that works well for me, but if needed, I have the knowledge to change my ways.
I am fairly open, for a couple of reasons. I’m older now, and I have a lot of lived experience and education. Secondly, I learned a long time ago that silence can enable. I have nothing to lose by sharing my story in particular. So in certain communities I am open about difficult topics.
Nice try, FBI. 😂
Nah, I’m pretty open as well. I get the idea that the conduct is similar to talking to strangers IRL, and I wear my heart on my sleeve and open myself up completely. Old habit from trying to accept things by telling others about it, and just kept going.
I’ve had a personal blog since the previous millennium. My primary subs on reddit were “Ask” communities, two of which I was so active in I went on to mod them. I post under my real name. I am not shy.
I don’t put anything online I wouldn’t say out loud in real life, though. That’s my limit.
I end up being quite open, if I’m being honest. There are many things that I don’t expose about myself online, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone could make an accurate, partial profile of what kind of person I am based only on my lemmy posts, plus a close approximation of where I live.
I’m pretty open. I’ve been using the internet this way for about 25 years and to date it’s never been a problem. I’ve got clothes with my handle across the shoulders, etc. so it’s not a secret who I am. I try not to be too specific about some stuff that I don’t feel are mine to talk about, or that might be professionally problematic (I don’t really talk about my current employment anyway - I’m not ashamed of it, it’s just not very interesting and doesn’t particularly define me so it’s not very relevant).
In various online communities over the years I’ve been one of the biggest fish so I’m occasionally recognised which varies between flattering and a little uncomfortable (usually in terms of " You clearly want something so what is it you want me to do/not do or wish I had done/hadn’t done?" but with socially awkward pleasantries). This has resulted in someone trying to use an FAQ I wrote to argue against me, not realising - meaning I effectively had to dust off the old “don’t you know who I am‽” type of response (albeit minus the diva overtones).
In the past the odd person has been a bit stalky and then been surprised when this information doesn’t intimidate me (I recall a particularly memorable one being “I know what you look like” to which my response was a photo of me with a shocked face). I do care what other people think but disapproval doesn’t bother me all that much. I try to be true to myself so when confronted there’s nothing to use against me - there’s no cognitive dissonance (so if I was an arsehole, no, I meant to be, it wasn’t an accident, it’s what I felt was an honest response to the situation).
