I knew that Stacy was writing a book, The Electronic Mask, that would deal with this phenomenon, so I asked her about it. People at Carnivale are famous for being completely free, when they wouldn't be normally, because the mask liberates them. Something happens online. There, you get just enough anonymity to feel safe to reveal your inner self. You feel like you're invisible.
Psychologists say that unburdening the soul and opening up is a positive experience.
I tend to be the same way online that I am in person, and I'm very private. But I've seen people opening up online, saying such intensely personal things, that it almost makes me uncomfortable. Sending messages back and forth to each other on ECHO, our exchanges had been fast and crisp and to the point. But in person, I noted that, at least on my part, a certain hesitancy set in. It's awkward to have an incredible intimacy of the heart and mind and to have no knowledge of the flesh.