Brian Acton Quotes

The version of me on the Internet, it's not me. It's one portion.

Online, you play at being yourself.

Having an avatar doesn't give you an identity, and having a persona online doesn't make you a personality either.

I watch people, friends of mine, and see how they portray themselves online and I find interesting that it's kind of a hyper-real version of yourself, how you'd like to be seen, in a way.

We live in an age where there is a firehose of information, and there is no hierarchy of what is important and what is not. Where the truth is often fashioned through a variety of digital means. Are you your avatar? Who are you in social media? What face do you turn toward the world? How much does it have in common with who you actually are?

There's this weird thing that happens when you contribute something to a static profile. You have to worry about how this new content fits in with your online persona that's supposed to be you. It's uncomfortable and unfortunate.

Approximating authenticity online is not such a tall order. In fact, it may be the very least we can do.

It just feels unnatural to me to broadcast anything other than the character I've created.

My Google existence is probably larger than a lot of people's.

I recognize that, to someone who doesn't know my history, maybe I seem like this guy who gets dressed up for the Internet.

Don't judge me by what someone posts on my page on Facebook.

There's more of me on Twitter than there is in real life.

Twitter is about creating whatever persona you want to create and either sticking with it or changing it or evolving it or contradicting it, and I've done all that stuff.

I could have a sex change and become a woman, physically. But in some ways that isn't even necessary. Because we live in a time when real life, and virtual life are at parity. We are so used to being creators, and creating versions of ourselves, mainly online, and through our communication technology, that I could very well picture myself as a woman, and consider myself a woman, even if my body would be classified as a male body by a medical examiner.

Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo, or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprint and personal brand.

I think it's pretty clear that the Internet as a whole has not had a strong notion of identity. And identity means, 'Who am I?' Fundamentally, what Facebook has done has built a way to figure out who people are.

There is absolutely a side of me that people don't know. I'm not myself on Snapchat or Instagram. That's totally not me.

There's definitely more to me offline than what you see online. Because what I show online is what I want to show to my followers... If I showed everything I did offline, it might not align with some of my other followers around the world.

Facebook has gone from a nice-and-boring social network to becoming an identity layer of the web. It is where nearly a billion people are depositing the artifacts of civilization in the 21st century - photos, videos, and birthday wishes.

Social media allowed us to become our own storytellers. With it, we seized the power of our truth.

For the record, I don't really hate myself, but I do hate the way I portray myself online.

My Twitter account status used to say 'part-time playboy' on it, but I've taken that down now.

For me, Instagram had become a place where I could image myself the way I found myself.

Whether you're a woman, a transwoman, a person of color, I feel like Instagram is really important for the creation and framing of the self.

Now every person edits the story they tell about themselves, carefully ensuring what the world looks at - whether it's over Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.