I have definitely distorted my self-presentation online to make myself appear differently than I am in real life. However, I haven't done this in a very long time. I probably did it the most during my freshman through junior years of high school.
Every time I would go someplace fun or new I would post pictures (back then it was on myspace and xanga) to show the internet world how well-off I was when I wasn't well off at all. I would post pictures and blogs that would show how much fun it was whenever I would 'break the rules' (ex: skipping class, drinking, smoking ... ) so that I could make sure I looked like a bad ass. I also tried to make myself look more attractive physically. I would only post pictures that I thought I looked the best in, and just being honest, I would take pictures at an angle that I knew would make my chest look bigger.
I really don't think I do these things anymore. I think I did them in high school because of a lack of self esteem, I wasn't proud of who I really was, so I distorted things about me to make myself appear differently. Nowadays I have a much higher self esteem and I am proud of who I am. I consciously try to make sure that the person I am portraying myself as online is the person that I really am.
The consequences of distorting my self presentation meant that I now had to live up to the image of the person that I created online. And when I was through with this phase, I had to go back to all my websites and either delete them or give them a major makeover, and try to change my image back to what it really should be.
The book talks about self-esteem and how it plays a role in our relationships and I truly do believe that one of the reasons people distort their image online is because their self-esteem isn't very high. This is not a very ethical thing to do, but I don't think most people even realize they are doing it. It's easy to slip into the attitude of 'make myself look better/different than what I am' because there are so many people online that will buy into your new 'self'.
