Titles are the work of the <lj-DEVIL>!

[active_apathy]

First thing first, the ad for Doctor Who with its mention of reality TV (yes, we here in Australia are horridly behind) gave me this mental image of a kind of Dalek Big Brother.

YOU ARE A HOUSEMATE! YOU MUST NOM-IN-ATE! NOM-IN-ATE! NO-MIN-ATE! EEE-VICT! EEE-VICT!

And now that that madness has passed, today's entry is mostly about something I've noticed. People seem to, in some ways, know me. At this point, you're probably thinking something like "that's odd because?" It's an interesting experience to have people be able to just say "Hey! You! You did this, and that, and I think that other thing, and I loved the ten things you can't do thingy!"

At this point, I should mention that I don't have much to respond to this with. There's always options like "And it's... um... you! With the head! And the... um... the eyes! And you... um... commented." It's an unusually awkward kind of thing, and makes me wonder how people who are really, genuinely famous would deal with it (beyond going to bonkers and retiring to high-walled mansions, I suppose). It may even be worse for them, since they tend to have bits like 'about the author' pages while my userinfo's still the blankest of canvases. This post was supposed to help fix it, and I may just get around to doing all that shortly-ish.

So, I put to you a question: What do you do when random folk seem to know all about you?

Comments

[nekoama.livejournal.com]

Is it sad that I said the NO-MI-NATE part outloud in the proper voice?

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

It's a very good episode. I shall resist giving spoilers, despite how much I love talking Doctor Who.

I'd advise dealing with it the same way 'normal' celebrities deal with it: don't expect to know who these people are (they don't expect you to know them either); just say "Hi", and if they mention a specific thing you did, come up with some random statement about it (it was a lot of fun/it took me about 15 hours balh blah blah). My other suggestion would be to use it as a potential source of free drinks, but that only really works with face-to-face meetings, not Internet things.

The only time I've had to deal with similar circumstances was a few years ago when my then-girlfriend used to gossip about our sex-life with all of our mutual friends. There is nothing quite so horrifying as watching a group of girls sitting in the corner suddenly turn and stare at you with knowing expressions on their faces.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I've had it happen a fair bit myself. What do I do?

I take it in stride and make an effort to get to know them back.

That's one of the effects of being visibly public on the net, especially a metaquotes regular such as yourself. You attract attention, and people will look around and learn about you because you interest them. The revelation that they know so much is more sudden because people can invisibly learn about you and your life. You have no indication that anyone is reading your LJ... random people could be reading the whole thing before ever turning up to say "Hi". I know I'm guilty of that on occaision... I'm a VERY shy person, and actually introducing myself to someone is a stomach-churning experience. Even online, in the context of "You rock, friending you now" (though that's a bit easier).

[laurenmitchell.livejournal.com]

I get recognised a lot on and offline, especially as a Red Dwarf fanfic writer. It's bizarre, especially offline, but I just try and figure out how these people know me and then get on with the conversation.

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

Well. Mostly the only people who know me around LJ are people that know Willow from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], so they're like, "Aw, OMG I love your icon! Your cat makes me so happy!" and I'm all, "... and you are?"

Take this for example. I don't know her. But she seems to know quite a bit about my icons/kitty.

It's okay though, I usually just smile, nod, acknowledge that my cat will one day own the universe, and get on with it.

It's different for you though. People assume that since your journal is open to the public and they're able to read it that you must be this terribly open person who loves to just prance around with your Life Book wide open. I know that's not true. People can lurk here, which gives them a sense of... oh, I dunno... security? Yes, security. They can know "all about you" and pounce in random places and totally blindside you with information about yourself, yet you're stuck with the generic "Oh, hello. You know me? And I know you? Great."

And now I'm rambling.