Lying about yourself online

[Oceansluver78]

I'd rather just put it all out there at first. Why bother lying with the intention of possibly meeting someone. I had a guy who would send me pics that were obviously years old. When I finally convinced him to send a picture that was taken right then and there. He looked completely different. The fact he had deceived me turned me off more than his apperance.

 

[EJMichaels]

I write erotica and need high visibility on the Internet for promoting my work. I omit or modify personal details someone could link to me in real life. I don't discuss favorite foods, pets, or anything else relatively unique (or would be if taken together). If a site requires that I give a geographic location, I lie and say in my profile that I have made it up.

For reasons unrelated to writing, I've been tempted to lie about my sex in order to join certain sites, but I haven't done it.

Because it's somewhat unique, I stopped giving people my real name in private messages. A few people posted publicly with my name (by mistake) and I'd rather avoid that. I don't like to lie, but I don't want to take the risk. Plus, information is sometimes disseminated unintentionally, e.g., in forwarded emails.