Integrity and the Online 'Life'

Imagine, if you will, that you and I are having a conversation.

The internet is filled with people who are out to game the system and get ahead; are you one of them?

And by extention, does it offend you - even the tiniest bit - that I would even ask you that question?

I was forced to think on that topic earlier today when I received a Private Message from another user - someone I didn't know, didn't recognize, and had never read - over at Associated Content.

As anyone who's read my last few articles is aware, I've had some issues at Epinions.  For whatever reason, I joined and immediately fell into bad graces with what I figure must be some fairly hi-falutin' folks over there, and they promptly blocked me.

After asking for help, explaining my personal situation (complicated pregnancy and such), and basically doing some behind-kissing that I didn't really feel like I should've had to have done in the first place, the blocks mysteriously disappeared and things were dandy.  I appended my profile to include my AC identity, per a helpful poster's suggestion, and figured that was the end of it.  Phew.

Until this afternoon.  I got a PM from some random person at AC asking me if I was the same person who writes for Epinions.  That's it.  No pleasantries, no 'hi, how are you', nothing.  Just someone out to verify my identity to satisfy their own curiosity.  It wasn't a rude message, per se, but it was definitely pointed.  And definitely not polite.

Hold the phone.  I don't know you from Adam, and you're checking on me after I appended my profile, swore up and down that I'm the same person, and repeatedly said that my character was such that I'd never cheat or lie or plagiarize?  But that wasn't good enough for Joe Schmo.  Joe had to know if I was really me.  And Joe had to do it by going to another website and asking me to prove myself.

It bothered me.  And it made me sad.  There's no integrity in the the online 'life' if everyone feels the need to check on everyone else.  I'm young enough that I don't really remember the days when a handshake and someone's word was enough to seal a deal, but I long for that kind of society.  And I say all of that as a sardonic, skeptical kind of person.

None of you know me in real life.  You only know what I show you; what I choose to reveal.  As a result, you have a few choices:  You can choose to believe me, you can decide I'm lying and write me off, you can not care one way or the other, or you can be obnoxious and repeatedly demand that I find new and exciting ways to prove who I really am. 

I just want to thank all of you for taking me at face value.  I hope that one day, there's a resurgence of integrity in the online life.