Are you any good at faking?

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I've never tried that sort of faking. I suspect that if I wanted to do it, I might be good at it. It's more like the creative writing of fiction than it is like lying to someone to their face, and trying to play a part in the flesh, with limited time between lines of dialogue.
I was involved in a really nasty one, though. I was (still am) part of a close-knit Christian e-mail Listserv, most of us of the Anglican Communion (that is the "topic" of the List), mostly from the US, Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand, very occasionally from somewhere else. We observe each other's birthdays when possible, have a Christmas gift exchange with random Listlings selected to send by snail a gift to whose-ever name they've "drawn", praying for each other, baring our hearts and souls to the group. We trusted each other, often getting together in the flesh in small groups, especially on the East Coast of the US, and when someone had some necessity for traveling outside their own area, they'd check on List to see who else might be at their destination or along the route with whom they could get together. It's not a large group (especially not these days: I'm talking about the late nineties, now) compared to this board: in those days, there were maybe fifty to a hundred or so posting, some more frequently than others, and the posts could get quite long and detailed, and some unknown number, quite variable, lurking or temporarily or permanently absent according to life circumstances.
One of our valuable, loved and respected members was a relatively young woman, divorced after an abusive marriage, with a restraining order for her ex to stay away from her in the Real World. She wrote beautiful prayers. I'll refer to her as Jane. There entered a newbie to the group, a relatively young woman, recovering from an abusive marriage (she went into detail) and afraid of her ex. I think she used the name Sharon, but I'm not sure, it's been a while. Naturally, with so much in common, she and Jane entered into private, offList correspondence. After some weeks, it turned out that "Sharon" was a "sock-puppet" for Jane's ex, who was stalking her. I'm not even sure that the stalking laws apply to e-mail. He was banned from the List, after the revelation, but kept coming back with fake addresses. One of our members was an major expert in internet, and he took the part of detective, running down each address, as they tried to join the List. Frequently, he did get back, and was seriously disruptive and hateful to every one of Jane's friends. He'd known when they were married how important the group was to her. Eventually, Jane left the List, seemed to her that it was the only thing that she could do. That man was a superlative creative writer-- he got back with several more widely variant identities before he gave up, but he'd already taken Jane's community and comfort away from her. Some of his posts were grossly horrible, and one got into reading them before realizing that that was another mask. I think he had to have been psychotic. I don't know what ever happened to either of them.

I think that the exact opposite is true: the way people behave online is generally more representative of who they are than offline behavior. Less behavioral restraints and less sense of responsibility (or the perception of such) clear away the conformist behavior and makes way for the true personality to shine through.



If they are not nice online, then they aren't nice at all, and probably faking their niceness in meatspace due to social expectations and greater consequences. I don't see why offline behavior should take precedence in determining whether or not someone is nice.


In other words, they hide their ignorance in meatspace, so it's a less reliable indicator of how they are.

I can be extremely deceptive. I know all sorts of espionage techniques (always look at the corner of your eye, never look directly at your target) and I am decently good at lying.

No, not very. I often have to fake interest in other people when they tell me about their day and such, but all I can really do there is nod and give noncommittal responses. What I'd really rather do is ignore them and say nothing.

I say a lot more here than I would in real life, but that's because I'm much better at writing than I am at talking. I have far less confidence and concentration when I have to address someone in person.

well my real name is not r2d2 - it is Doug or Douglas - Other than that - I really can't fake it either online or in real life. If I say something that is not true - it is only because I am mistaken. Not that I have never told a lie - but, when I do I feel a lot of cognitive dissonance and usually feel compelled to go back and correct myself.

Maybe for...two minutes. Then I'm just like, "screw it". I don't fake anymore. I'm autistic. I live in this world, just like everybody else. If somebody doesn't like it, they can take it up with God or rewrite the laws of physics or whatever. Just like gay people say - "We're queer, we're here, get used to it.". So, "I'm autistic, this world is my home too, so bite me.". Not as nice as gay people, but after several decades of trying to please cranky, illogical, petty, unpleasable people, I'm done.

Last edited by Cyd on 10 Dec 2014, 5:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

I just remembered this cartoon

Last edited by r2d2 on 10 Dec 2014, 5:37 am, edited 2 times in total.

Ah, LOL! True. I LOVE the internet!!

I don't always go by the same username on different sites. Honestly, because I think people might judge me on one and then take that judgment into another. It's no surprise I spent a lot of time on an anonymous board where people couldn't carry their judgment of me from even one conversation to the next.

But as far as being the person I am... I find it hard to be anyone else. It feels like lying. It feels like I'm not even there at all if I'm not being me. What's the point of giving voice and presence to someone that doesn't exist?

And why would one even want approval - or attention or company or whatever it is they want - from someone that they believe doesn't like them, in the first place? It doesn't make any sense.

That's exactly what it is. It feels like lying.

I am what I am, like it or lump it!

I seen a couple eps of the show Fake Off & totally don't understand the point of faking.

I can fake things to an extent when I want to.

I'm sure others on the spectrum can fake things quite well, especially those that are actors.

I can fake things to an extent when I want to.

I'm sure others on the spectrum can fake things quite well, especially those that are actors.

You can say THAT again!