Recent events on Facebook have got me thinking, and I wanted to share some thoughts about the difference between my online self and my offline self.

I think the word you'd use to describe the online me is ... uninhibited. She (and forgive me for using third person here) giggles a lot, huggles just about anybody, acts silly to make her friends laugh, makes friends easily, has even flirted with people, and probably overshares her personal stuff.

The offline me is shyer, struggles to connect with and understand people (hey, I scored very close to being Autistic, what does that tell you), sometimes struggles with being touched, and is generally much more guarded. Plus, my social struggles were added to by having to deal with gender problems and PTSD, neither of which tend to make a person want to be a social butterfly.

So am I "lying" when I am online?

Well, I don't think so. First, all those character traits are in me, they may not come out as much in real life, but they aren't something I've fabricated. Plus, the details I share are real - that's my picture, I really live in Edmonton, and so on.

I say all this to say that I kinda understand how what happened here happened, how a person might find comfort in presenting themselves as someone better than they see their true self to be, and if said person does come back under their real name (and a apology, of course) I will probably give them a second chance.

Be kind to each other, each person you speak to might be fighting a battle of which you know nothing ..l