Wrapping it up

So, to conclude. Looking at "my" profile, I have 82 friends, the vast majority of whom don't seem to care at all that they are friends with a person that does not exist. They assume because this person has my name, it is me, despite a profile picture that is not of me (thank you lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber.com) and totally different interests (twilight? really?) and attitudes. I think the conclusion to draw here is either that a) people on the internet are hugely unobservant or b) none of my friends ever look at my profile or c) reality television and the way in which it distorts our perception of reality has made it possible for us to accept utterly ridiculous personalities and scenarios as "real" and plausible... because that's how it is on TV, right?

To be fair, some people figured it out (like, 5 maybe?) But these were three of my good friends, my sister, and my cousin. They should be able to tell it's not me. Oh, and I think Ailish asked about it too. But 6 out of 82? That's only like 7% of my friends. That worries me a little bit. Because honestly, what do we really know about people who are our "friends" on facebook? We take their word for all the information that they give us and assume that they're telling the truth. But we really can create an image of ourselves that is exactly what we want others to see-- so who, in all honesty, puts out their real, genuine, unedited self onto the internet? What I did with this project was just taking to the extreme what we all do on Facebook every day.

So did this "person" become more real than myself? I don't know, and I wonder know if that's the question to be asking. For 76 people it was real enough, so I guess that means yes. But if anything, this project has taught me that the word "real" can have many meanings and variations; what is real in one context may not be in another. So I think this entity, alter-ego and I are both real, but in different ways, and not with one more so than the other. I am more real in the physical world in which we live, and they are more real out there on the internet. And that's the way it should be I hope-- I would never want to actually exist more on the internet than I do in real life.

So that's it... two or so weeks later. It's going to be a relief, I think, to go back to my old Facebook account and be my "real" self again. It's been difficult not interacting with people in the way I want to, and not saying the things I want to-- this entity did take over my life in that sense-- they controlled all my output onto the internet, and I'll be happy to have that aspect of my life back under control.

Eh bien, continuons.