Do you have a website for the real life you?
No = 5 votes
More than 1 = 2 votes
Facebook = 1 vote
MySpace = 1 vote
Personal website = 0 votes
All of the above = 0 votes
I voted "no". I think my sister started a Face Book page but when I tried to view it it said I needed to be a member first. I don't really like sites like which require people to register just to see their content.
On the other hand I've been considering getting a website for myself and I can't make up my mind how to do it. MySpace seems so last year and for little kids (sorry Sand Dog), but I don't like requiring people to register just to get to my site (Face Book).
On the other hand I don't know how to design a web site. That is way over my head. Eventually I'd like to take this blog to it's own site (if I ever get more than 10 readers, maybe) but then I'd have to design one, or have somebody do it for me. Then there's the whole question about maintenance and what do I do if something goes wrong. And if I'm fiddling with things there's bound to be something that goes wrong.
If you put aside where you've got a personal page then you have to answer the question: do I want my personal information out there? Yes, I have a blog and talk about things in my personal life, but if you passed me on the street you wouldn't know who I was. I kind of like that. My online persona is Pengwenn and while it is the real me it's also a shield I can hide behind if I don't want to get to personal. So, at the same time it's the real me even when it's not.
I can be frustrated and pissed off (and maybe even drop a swear word or two) without having to worry about people looking at me and judging me for not being "lady-like". I can flirt and tease my fellow gamers, putting all kinds of fantasies in their heads about me, without having them "hurl their cookies" when they find out what the real me looks like. It's all innocent fun and nobody gets hurts. They go to bed with their fantasies and I go to bed with my anonymity still intact. It works for me.
Getting a website for the real me would destroy all of that. I don't think it's a bad thing for people; I just don't know if it's a good thing for me. As a girl I was taught to protect myself and there are a lot of predators on the net. I've had a couple of people on my friends list that I've deleted because they were starting to creep me out. Having a website would be like opening my front door and inviting all the weirdos over. The only weirdos I want to meet are the ones I can kill . . . or at least mute.
Now I do have an email address that I'm willing to share (just not out here in the open) so if anyone wants to get past the "Pengwenn shield" (to a more personal me) just drop me a comment or a PM on Xbox. If I know you (and like ya) I'll let you know what it is. If not . . . well then I guess you'll have to play some arcade games with me until I DO like you. Oh, and it helps if I win. :)
