from my earliest days online i've always always always (almost) coupled my online identity with my real identity
for over 20 years—
can you even fathom being online for over two decades?!
—my main identity has been an outre take on my initials. now don't get me wrong i like what 12-year-old me came up with and i'm not about to throw it out but
i have "throwaway" accounts in a few places but they're not used as a vehicle for honesty, but rather self-indulgence (you know the kind)
that's all well and good but there still isn't a place for me online to just be myself—not the hypersexualized version of myself, or the more buttoned-down-than-usual version of myself, but simply me, casual, sitting in my chair at home or whatever, not worried about whether a personality quirk i exhibit or a time where i vocalized my anger at someone for being a nazi and/or other waste of oxygen might have a tangible effect on how i'm perceived in my professional life
inhales
so yeah. i'll give this a shot. i'm not expecting to become a regular user or to join another community, and honestly the internet doesn't need more words, it needs more thoughtful words
just because an empty text box exists does not mean you have to put something in it and hit "submit" after
but maybe this will help me get out of my head a little bit more without all of the baggage of being me. and i think that's what the devs are going for here. so.