I don’t know how in-tune everyone is with news be it sports, entertainment or social media issues, but in my house it’s all the time. We have 5 cell phones, 4 iPods, and 4 computers between the 6 of us. Someone is ALWAYS online (seriously—ALWAYS). Between my online kids (one doesn’t care yet, thank goodness), I pretty much know most of what’s going on. So one of the things we’ve been talking about recently is Manti Te’o and his getting duped online.
One of my kids (the sports nut) is incredulous and can’t understand how this could possibly happen—he thinks there was no way Te’o could get duped and he had to be lying every which way. But you know what, it can happen. Hell, I know someone it happened to (not naming names, but… someone was fooled and fooled damned good; gifts were involved, some serious lies thrown about, it wasn’t pretty when the truth came out—and did they feel stoo-pid!). Lesson learned there! When the Te’o news story broke, I guess because of my knowledge of the possibility, I didn’t understand the whole hoopla going on (and on and on) about it.
In the writing world, with pseudonyms and whatnot, this could happen much more frequently. Folks need/want to cruise through social media, but don’t want there “real” name out there for various reasons. more than half the writers I know use pseudonyms (and I have to say, I never know should I call them by their “real” name or the name on the book—I tend to go with the name they are introduced to me with, FYI). I knew a girl a few years ago who wrote under two name. I interacted with her for over a year before I realized it was the same girl. She wasn’t trying to hide it, I was just not paying enough attention at the time… We both laughed when I admitted to her I’d figured it out.
It does make me a little wary when I see “Like to help get…[fill in the blank gift for fill in the blank issue]”. Makes me wonder if it’s real. I will often times still hit the like button. So far as I can tell it doesn’t adversely affect me to do so… though, it might tear a little piece of my soul if I find out it was a lie *sniff-sniff*. To me it’s not that strange, or unexpected I guess, that someone could get confused and/or duped.
Has it happened to you? Have you been a victim be it deliberate or just didn’t catch on as quickly? Have you done it for a reason or another (I’ll be honest, I have thought about creating a fake online persona to get on my kid’s FB page since he won’t let me on now, but 1) I’m too lazy to try and 2) I’m just trusting him… for now.)? What would compel you to do it if you haven’t?
