Well, it’s been one of those weeks, folks: husband sick (it’s those “daggers” again, unfortunately), new green dress still “in the post”, someone trying to impersonate me on the internet. You know, the usual.
Oh, the Crazy Internet Impostor thing? Yeah, that was… weird. I mean, OMG, drama on teh internets! Who’da thunk it? Because the internet is normally such a sane place! Or, if not “sane” exactly, at least there’s normally only one of me on it, which I think we can probably all agree is a Good Thing.
For a brief time this week, though, there were two of me. There was the REAL me, and then there was Imposter Amber: a girl – or possibly a boy, who knows? – pretending to be me. I found out about Impostor Amber yesterday morning, when I woke up to find an email in my inbox from a member of a Sonic Youth forum (I know, random!), who was writing to let me know that, well, there were now two of me in the world, in that one of the members of this forum had been posting my photo on a “Show us your face” thread, and claiming it was her. Or that she was me.
And sure enough, so she was:
And not only pretending that she was me, but pointing out that it is a “bad picture”! With zits!
(She later deleted all of her posts, but not before I took screenshots. Shame.)
Of course, I immediately assumed that this girl was one of my haters (Hi, Amy!), but as I read on, I realised that the thread she’d posted it on was one of those “post a photo of yourself” ones, and she actually wanted people to think it was a picture of her. So I think the whole “bad photo, sad face” thing was probably just a transparent attempt to get people to say nice things about her – I mean me – and of course, some people did. (To which she was all, “Aww, thanks, guys! I guess I just have low self-steem!” LOL!) And, inevitably, some other people … well, it’s the internet, you can probably guess how that one panned out. Just your average “group of teenage boys picking apart a woman’s appearance anonymously” kinda thing, really.
Luckily for me, I’m fairly used to being talked about as if I’m not a human being with, you know, actual feelings, and I’m pretty flattered that someone decided they wanted to pretend to be me (even if that person did turn out to be totally crazy), but even so: isn’t that just the funniest/saddest thing you’ve heard all week? Oh, and when someone called her on her idiocy, Impostor Amber claimed that it was all a “social experiment” and whined about how no one appreciated her “art”. Hee! I couldn’t make this up!
Still, another day, another drama, as Britney says. And here was me thinking only Elvis and Jacko got to have impersonators!
(Oh, and for anyone who’s interested, the Impostor Amber’s justification for pretending to be me is under the jump.)
“I have a desire to actually talk and chat and communicate with you all on a variety of subjects. Unfortunately I also like to play games with people. I don’t know this Amber girl. I just randomly searched in google “redhead girl” and it popped up. So, sorry Amber.
The main reason I did it was a social experiment. I instantly got 6 PM’s and my whole page was filled with positive reputation. I couldn’t get by on just my postings alone. I had to post a picture to impress you all. People kept bumping that simple, plain image. It even got to the point where people apparently wanted to know more about me or wanted to find more pictures of me or something. Why else would you right-click and go to “Image Properties”? You wanted to see more of “me”.
Well. My social experiment has proven something. Some of you are kind of creepy and weird. You can’t just let a simple picture rest. I wasn’t trying to hide the picture. I could have editted it or posted it to my own private sharing site. It’s not enough just to be a friendly and honest and open minded person in this board. I have to have sex appeal to get by.
We live in an age where everyone knows everything about everyone. If you don’t know you have to know more. There are real pictures of me and I’m not some fat, ugly girl or anything. I just don’t want to let that much of myself onto a message board. I still have my pride and my dignity. This entire narcissistic self-gratifying thread (with nearly 1400 pages of photos of people acting like they’re interesting) is not for me.
Still I’d like to continue posting here and being friendly with you all. I have no hard feelings. I’m not going to mention the creepy messages I got. Of the 6 PM’s, 2 were outright creepy. I am not sure what that says for you all. I am sorry I like to play games and experiment with the rules and structure of a message board. That’s just who I am.”
So now we know, folks: some people are creepy and weird! Gosh, I feel like I’VE learned something too from this fascinating little “social experiment”!
These kids crack me up 
Hahaha s'too crazy!! But like how sad must the girl/guy/fakeAmber be? btw, hope your dress comes in the post soon!
.-= Veronika´s last blog ..Gone for the w/e! =-.
I hope so too – it's driving me crazy waiting for it to arrive!
She probably has your original dress……………(!)
Just bonkers………
OMG! I never even thought of that!
[...] This post was Twitted by foreveramber [...]
Wow, that's weird… bizarrely flattering and bizarrely unnerving at the same time! Her justification is so random – but hey at least she still has her pride and dignity!
.-= Zoe, Conversation Pieces´s last blog ..Friday I’m in love… with Friday =-.
Oh yes, she still has her pride and dignity! And I particularly liked "I just don’t want to let that much of myself onto a message board." Well hey, neither do I! Shame I didn't get to choose whether or not "that much of myself" was posted on a message board!
Nicky, what a great idea! An undercover imposter dress-stealer… is it worrying how possible that sounds?
.-= mysterycreature´s last blog ..Links à la Mode: A stylish new world =-.
God, I know – at this point I'd be willing to believe anything!
All in all, not the best of times, I'm guessing. Hope Terry gets better soon.
I think he's feeling a bit better today, so I'm sure he'll be back to normal soon!
Oh, *now* I get it! She wasn't stealing your photo and passing it off as her out of craziness – she was doing it because she's subversive, dammit, she's a rebel! She doesn't play by the rules!
Sometimes I really don't understand people…
She later tried to say that people just don't understand her "art". Er, no, not really, to be honest. I must just be a complete philistine!
Well, I guess you have to feel sorry for him/her. Mental illness isn't funny whichever way you look at it.
It's hard to know on the internet whether someone is "mad" or just "bad", though. And it's a good point: for all this girl knew, *I* could've been someone going through a hard time, or suffering from depression or something, and having my photo posted so a bunch of people could discuss my appearance and call me a "skank" (amongst other things) could've just been the last straw. Obviously in my case it wasn't, and I see it as a joke more than anything, but if she'd chosen someone else to pose as, it could've been really upsetting for the person.
"Social experiment" my arse!
Still, it's lovely photo of you, even when portrayed as not-you
.-= Gemma´s last blog ..HQHair Offer 10 Free Dermalogica Samples =-.
OMG so that's where the evil twin ended up!
how pathetic! not to mention rude, but geez. lame, lame, lame. some people have no lives
.-= ThriftyStylistBoston´s last blog ..Thrifty Stylist Boston Talks Money, Not Shopping (Well, OK, a Little Shopping) =-.
Wow. Just wow. Funny how it was only an "experiment" after she got caught.
.-= Kristabella´s last blog ..DINAO Round 13 – The John Hughes Tribute Edition =-.
Uh… Kinda funny, kinda messed? They say emulation is a form of flattery. Although, she managed to make sure you weren't flattered in the slightest. Your life on the internet is far more interesting than mine!
.-= Amanda Nicole´s last blog ..charmed =-.
Oh, man. "Social experiment" is the trolling excuse equivalent of "the dog ate my homework." S/he was clearly doing it for the attention.
.-= Leigh´s last blog ..CoverGirl Exact Eyelights Eye Brightening Mascara in Black Ruby =-.
How rude of her.
How come this always happens to sane people? Like you. 
agreed. *sigh*
"I have to have sex appeal to get by."
At least she's saying that you have sex appeal, eh? Eh?
That is thoroughly creepy, though.
Has she been directed to her blog? I hope she'd be a little embarrassed to read this entry!
.-= Mousy´s last blog ..Mini-Contest Character Portrait RESULTS =-.
She did say she chose it because she had to have sex appeal.
That's a compliment.
(even though she is off.)
oh my goodness – it just beggars belief!
looking forward to hearing about the arrival of the new green dress!
Wow. That is one of the worst excuses I've heard. It's sad that there aren't enough "friendly" people like her around.
Woow. That's, um, really weird.
At least she thinks you have sex appeal…?
.-= Anna´s last blog ..Nine accidentally funny domain names… =-.
*Speechless*
“It’s not enough just to be a friendly and honest and open minded person in this board.”
So you all forced me to be a friendly LIAR thankyouverymuch!
As a side note, random people on Sonic Youth boards know you? You must be famous!
I know! It's so friendly and honest to basically steal someone else's identity!
<blockquote cite="comment-5896">
RhondaB: “It’s not enough just to be a friendly and honest and open minded person in this board.”So you all forced me to be a friendly LIAR thankyouverymuch!As a side note, random people on Sonic Youth boards know you? You must be famous!
Haha, no, the impostor just wasn't clever enough to disguise where she'd stolen the image from – she hotlinked it from this site, and so people were able to right click on it, see where it came from and work out that I wasn't a 22-year-old Sonic Youth fan from Florida
.-= Amber´s last blog ..My dad will be so proud…* =-.
[...] Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?Remember the time someone stole one of my photos and pretended it was a photo of them? [...]
‘I just don’t want to let that much of myself onto a message board’ But it’s okay for her to put a picture of you up instead? That’s a bit odd…