Seeing ourselves by not being seen.

---

Often, wearing a mask, rather than hiding our identity, permits us to play with alternative identities. Masked persons, and the awe their create in others, appear often in our popular culture. The question of who that person is (asked about 6700 times according to Google) usually refers to The Lone Ranger, though Zorro seems to be the answer to at least some of those questions. One has to wonder about Clayton Moore's perception of himself, having portrayed both those masked characters.

Signature files aren't masks, but they certainly can serve as screens behind which we project ourselves. With each change in the file we project a different persona. But something different takes place with our postings to a list of recipients (our public expession of our refrigerator doors). With these it's only over a period of time that a consistent persona starts to emerge. At the outset we're eclectic, happily passing on whatever strikes our fancy, whatever comes our way. But as time goes on we become more selective, until we define, both for ourselves and for others, our virtual identities. Because the space restrictions of refrigerator doors force us to be selective about what we display, this development of persona over time is much more prevalent in cyberspace.

Is a consistent, coherent, persona our goal? Does it really matter to us that our readers know what to expect when they receive a mailing from us? Probably not. The quest for consistency may be unnecessary baggage, left over from the time of refrigerator doors and the restrictions they placed on how we projected, and perceived, ourselves.

---

Go to: Who was that masked man?, or
Go to: Are there refrigerator doors in cyberspace?