Do you recognise the poster you were 5 years ago?

Jark

Jark

PLUMP and RIPE
Joined
Oct 27, 2007
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a PHILOSOPHICAL question for those who have been regular posters that long - which is most of you: do you ever read a post from, like 2018 or whenever and think, I don't recognise that person? or is it just me?

I searched for a thread today, read my posts back, and thought - you must have been suffering then... you sound deranged. :eyes: probably I still do... but maybe when you're active on a forum for this long time all blurs into one and you're only aware of the kind of poster you are... right now? or does it just reflect how you've changed as a human being in that time?

DOES ANYBODY ELSE FEEL THIS PHENOMENA?

don't read me too hard, Sheena
 
Some of my best work tbh

1000050536.png
 
I barely posted in 2019. I don't feel like I've changed much since then until I remember all the times in real life I've been a narky arsehole about things I used to just let slide.
 
5 years ago, no (I wasn't here).

20 years ago, YES :D

We don't just mature in real life, we mature online too. Double the evolution. It's best not to dwell too much unless you're a big fan of SELF LOATHING
 
I think I only just started typing frequent online posts in August 2019, on Twitter (so nearly 5 years ago)..!
My username and account for disneyteletubby didn't even come about until leap day 2020.
☺️🌱

I think I first got into emojis in 2011 or so, when I had an iPod Touch (iOS 5-6).
Especially
smiling-face-with-open-mouth-and-smiling-eyes_1f604.png


Eny-way, my posting in a nutshell:

2018-19= Speculate Wildly About Frozen II
❄️🍁

2023-24= Speculate Wildly About Enya
🎼 :enya:



(I trust Enya to be less disappointing! ♡)
 
I cringe when I read some old posts, but I don’t think I’ve changed that much fundamentally. Sometimes I am shocked at what I decided to post on a public forum…
 
I mean yeah I posted some awful shit before that isn’t to be proud of but that’s just the evolution of life. Hopefully we all get better and learn as we get older.
 
Joseph said:
I mean yeah I posted some awful shit before that isn’t to be proud of but that’s just the evolution of life. Hopefully we all get better and learn as we get older.
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Yes, this.

But also DON'T BANK ON IT
 
I mean I literally put myself on pause so what do you think?
 
Jark said:
a PHILOSOPHICAL question for those who have been regular posters that long - which is most of you: do you ever read a post from, like 2018 or whenever and think, I don't recognise that person? or is it just me?

I searched for a thread today, read my posts back, and thought - you must have been suffering then... you sound deranged. :eyes: probably I still do... but maybe when you're active on a forum for this long time all blurs into one and you're only aware of the kind of poster you are... right now? or does it just reflect how you've changed as a human being in that time?

DOES ANYBODY ELSE FEEL THIS PHENOMENA?

don't read me too hard, Sheena
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I’m not sure why you ever thought I would…
 
I read through the Michael Jackson DEAD threat recently and recognised myself in it and that's 15 years now. I was a lot angrier in those days tho', something that ebbed away, came roaring back during the pandemic and lockdowns and has ebbed away again.
 
I'd be pretty disappointed if I was the same, imagine being so dull that you don't evolve?
 
I think 5 years ago I was probably ok, but 20 years ago I was an embarrassment to the internet with my dreadful text talking and over sharing.

I've matured :disco:
 
There's probably a lot of difference based on age. I doubt I'm THAT much different than I was 5 years ago, because I was already in my late 40s at that point. I do think there has been some change in that time, but it's unlikely to think it would be as much as someone 20+ years younger. I'm sure if I looked back at my posts at the start of moopy or on dotmusic posts there would be a more marked difference, like @Rachey says (but without her awful text speak).

I dread to think what it must be like for posters like @VoR and younger who could look back on posts as an actual posts as a child. Thank fuck online forums didn't exist in the late 80s.
 
funky said:
5 years ago, no (I wasn't here).

20 years ago, YES :D

We don't just mature in real life, we mature online too. Double the evolution. It's best not to dwell too much unless you're a big fan of SELF LOATHING
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SAME (well, not the "wasn't here" bit)

But we are Moopy elders 🧓👵
 
And that goes for LIFE not just MOOPY. I cringe at the entire person I was in my late teens and early twenties.
 
I am significantly calmer than I used to be.

I think the young have a lot of energy, they don't know what to do with and it filters out into anger. As you get older, unless you're completely rubbish you have more responsibility, usually less energy, and less time to be angry about stuff. By the time you hit 40+, we tend to gain caring roles, be it for children, parents or even partners, which change our outlook.

All that certainly applies to me, but extensive therapy, societal changes and unpleasant dives (on here) into my past have provided chances to reflect and change.

As a poster, these days I'm largely quite DULL, set it my ways, with flashes of fun and a splash of mean.
 
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lolly said:
I dread to think what it must be like for posters like @VoR and younger who could look back on posts as an actual posts as a child. Thank fuck online forums didn't exist in the late 80s.
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HORRIFYING.

In terms of the last five years, I’m not sure 33-38 is the biggest personality leap so I’m sure much of my posting was about the same - although weirdly around 2016-2020 was probably a particular low point for me in terms of my mental health and my personal life in general, though I’m not sure I really recognised that until I got on the other side of it.

In terms of Moopy postings the main thing is I’m a lot more conscious of not being so confrontational, particularly when it comes to political stuff. I still have my slip ups, but I generally try to take a beat and think about whether something’s really worth saying before I post something now, and if I am dragged into a conflict I’m much more likely to just disengage rather than obsess about getting the last word in.
 
Honey I don't even recognise the poster I was a year ago let alone five years ago.
*insert meme here*

Seriously though I will write a proper in-depth self indulgent analysis of my online persona (1998-current) in due course.

Excellent thread/question.
 
AGinAg (39) said:
I am significantly calmer than I used to be.

I think the young have a lot of energy, they don't know what to do with and it filters out into anger. As you get older, unless you're completely rubbish you have more responsibility, usually less energy, and less time to be angry about stuff. By the time you hit 40+, we tend to gain caring roles, be it for children, parents or even partners, which change our outlook.

All that certainly applies to me, but extensive therapy, societal changes and unpleasant dives (on here) into my past have provided chances reflect and change.

As a poster, these days I'm largely quite DULL, set it my ways, with flashes of fun and a splash of mean.
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Broadly agree with this, and I feel I'm the same

Also largely DULL, set in my ways, with flashes of fun and a splash of CRAZY in my case..

:disco:
 
The 2004 (16 years old) - 2024 (36 years old) comparison in particular is jarring but then again, that's probably the whole point of it. Just like with everything else in life, there are some things you're happy with and many other things that you learn from - if anything, it shows how far people have come.

To be fair, I'm glad some of my alcohol-fuelled 20-year-old ramblings happened here and not e.g. on Instagram and TikTok.
 
Begrudgingly I agree with @VoR

What I said as applied, involves a lot more editing of my posts (I have typed out so many posts, which I then delete), because I just don't have the energy supply for my future self to get into it. Over time it becomes habit not to get into such shenanigans so much.
 
My lungs feel like hot lead is being poured into them such is the dread I get when I see I've posted something 5 years ago, and as has already been said, also 5 minutes ago. But as Queen Britney once said to peasant Dermot: just keep doin' it.
 
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