It’s rare that I’m actually interested in receiving advice in first person on my blog.
So for a change, something different, I won’t laugh at you for giving me advice in the first person, it’s welcomed on this post. Easy on the patronising though, could lead to the spam queue.
I received today in my comments – this :
Hi! Who are you?
I see a friendly angle, and a not so friendly angle. Depends on whether I’m being the sceptic or the optimist. I have to confess I don’t know the antonym for sceptic, should probably look it up, optimist’ll have to do for now !
Also not really enough context to answer the question properly. So then what’s my generic answer to the “Who are you?” question to a random anonymous person on the internet gonna be ? One that takes into account the fact I have a public about page which talks about “Who I am” and same on my homepage on this blog. Oh and lest we forget the 1500 posts I’ve published here. Lazy springs to mind.
What makes me chuckle is “this isn’t a game of ‘who the fuck are you?'” from Eddie Izzard’s “Death Star Canteen” sketch. It cracks me up every time, it’s one YouTube :
Perhaps I’ll just send that link !
Or could just be someone who’s not very good at answering the “Who are you?” question themselves, attempting to get it in first, before I detect that fact they don’t know who they are … or worse they’re looking to me to tell them who they are.
Facebook I’ve seen this far more than WordPress.com, it’s pretty weird here rather than the norm, in my experience. Most folks here would introduce themselves a little, and the “who are you” reveals itself naturally as part of a flowing conversation. So the question also feels a little contrived or forced. Also why would I invest my time in entertaining a random person who doesn’t seem to offer anything ?
So could be a new blogger, asking new blogger questions – probably that’s it …
What “softens” the question a little is the preceding “Hi!” … which leads me to err to the side of a genuine conversation leading to a friendly outcome … as opposed to a “give me reasons to like you (or not)” question.
There’s plenty of other angles, but I’m interested to know your take … and what you reckon “a good” reply is, in your opinion … for me and obviously those that follow via Google hits from searchers seeking answers to these age old conundrums like – “Why I am here?” or “What is the meaning of life?” or “Why don’t they sell pizza flavoured icecream ?” or “Is there a dog?” …
Over to you …
Cheers
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Notes for commenters:
Comments are invited. BUT you are reminded that this is a public blog and you are also reminded to think before you press the “post comment” button.
Good manners are a mark of a charismatic person – so please keep comments civil, non-argumentative, constructive and related, or they will be moderated. If you feel you can’t comply, press the “unfollow” button and/or refrain from commenting.
I read ALL comments but can’t always reply. I will comment if I think there’s something that I can add to what you’ve said. I do delete without notice comments that don’t follow rules above. For persistent offenders I will ignore you permanently and/or report you.
Most decent people already know how to behave respectfully. Thank you for your co-operation on the above.
Warm regards, Don Charisma
Don Charisma 
Some days I ask myself the same question.
LOL … I’ve been known too … when it happens TO ME PERSONALLY sometimes it’s a result of a hangover 😀
A result of bad judgement rather than bad memory then. lol
Depends on one’s perspective, getting drunk can be a lot of fun … and my memory’s not photographic, I get by 😀
Great you wrote about it and spread that question on the blog!
Somehow that question should have been asked to me.
I have had some revelations lately…
Perhaps it will be … and our presence post kind of answers this 😀
Hahaha I sometimes wonder who I am too at times!Why don’t you stick around and find out with me 😉 how about that? xx Rachel
LOL … sounds like a plan Rachel, more than happy to get to know you, the “normal” way 😀 … oh, and yeah, with hangover, occasionally I lose track of important stuff too !
Q: Who are you? A: Your worst nightmare.
I used to use that one on my students on the first day of classes. 🙂
That’s just mean Ernesto … hopefully you made it fun for them too !
DON!
Keep it simple then 😀
Maybe they want to know your life story. Send them a response that just starts with…
It was a cold and blustery morning on ________ when I entered the world. A curious creature. By the 3rd week it was reported that I had developed a bad case of baby acne. Do you want me to continue to part 2 – learning to eat? By page 2,300,435 you should have a decent idea.
LOL … was one of the thoughts that arose for me too … downside is I don’t have time to write 2300435 pages, well not just right now !
hello. first let me in all who I’m is one chooses to find a way to succeed so my kids can know they can and will make it lost on how to get there and hold and maintain the character it takes to get me beyond being without vision will or determination to see or get there
Like it, it’s a nice response … question for you – are the missing commas and full stops (periods) intentional … reason I ask is it adds an air of ambiguity, whilst being a little mysterious … which I do actually like because it means the recipient has to read it carefully … actually very wise 😀
In the spirit of Beeblebrox I’d have to go with 42 as the answer to that question. 😀
… and I keeping switching between yes and no there is/isn’t a dog 😀 … I think I may have mild dyslexia !
If the person bothered to read your blog, he would know who you are!
Pretty much, there’s a lot of “who I am” goes into creating what’s here 😀
Just do self introduction.
😀 I think that’s what I’m working on, what my self-introduction to random unknown people on the internet is !
All the best
TY
Welcome
Blogging is the disease, I’m the cure.
Funny … love it … +1 … liked … karma points to you !
LOL! Too funny. I like the friendly “Hi!” The answer to those sorts of questions should probably be Batman! Or perhaps a dragon. Or a pirate. You could just be yourself but as long as somebody is giving you a choice, I’d go with Batman. Batman is cool.
I love getting advice, even though I don’t always follow it. I enjoy questions too, but they must be legible. I am not Yoda here, and my psychic abilities only go so far 😉
LOL … the friendly “Hi!” does make a difference doesn’t it … it’s weird because in some contexts, “Hi! Who are you?” could be a normal thing to say … speed dating might be a possible scenario … or maybe a professional conference where people don’t know each other …
But, yes, I think something simple that shows that I’m making little or less investment in the interaction, probably would be correct … I think I like “dragon” most from your suggestions … because it has multiple meanings, so leaves so mystery there too 😀
I sometimes like receiving advice provided it’s not patronising – the British have a dislike of being patronised, and I’m no different … and yes also give advice expecting me not to take it, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t !
As for Yoda, my abilities are far beyond that of Yoda’s … LOL … Who are you question, try I will, there is no do or not do …
Hello, thank you for the follow!
You’re very welcome 😀
I think you are just plain good people with a tendency to control what is constructive in criticism. One tendency when there could be more is a great accomplishment.
LOL, it’s an interesting thought … I think we tend to accept criticism (and sometimes use it to make a change for the better), where we respect and trust the giver of the criticism … others, well – “those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter” really …
Also where some may see a critic, others may see for instance – an out of context character assasinator or an argumentative person who’s purely making a criticism in order to argue or cause a reaction (a button pusher). That and a lot of other things, which are often rolled up into the one word – trolling. Trolls don’t do constructive criticism, their goal is an emotional reaction, which isn’t the constructive critic’s intention in making comment. A constructive critic’s intention is actually to be of help, of service, with a relevant, pertinent point raised 😀
As for “could be more” – well people like myself and some of the other successful bloggers I know receive plenty of criticism, it is “more” I can assure you. Mostly my experience and investigations put the purpose of the criticism rooted in envy, which is another word for inferiority or an inferiority complex of some kind. Happy well adjusted people tend to feel less envy, although I don’t think there’s many that feel none at all.
Bottom line – be relevant, be interesting and be polite if you want me to publish a comment here that’ll reach (potentially) over 37000 people …
Thats Ok I have my own ways of reaching people. You keep that one to yourself and public. But Thanks for the offer. Who knows one day I may fund you to reach more.
LOL maybe that wasn’t clear, this blog has 37000+ followers now – not a promotional offer … and yes that’d be lovely – if you’re a sponsor or donor, we’d love to hear from you on that 😀
Curious how much does it cost to run a blog like yours? I am going to fund educational issue when I return to work.
For me it wouldn’t be discrete to discuss figures here … generally – a blog can be run on shoestring, or any budget really … it would depend on whether it’s run financially as a .org or .com … how many staff (paid or volunteers), costs for equipment, expenses and service fees … in a world of ideals I’d have 5 paid writers, a full time technical person and a photographer … VIP service on WordPress is $4000 a month … sky’s the limit really …
In France everyone asks everyone all the time ‘Comment ça va’ … But only once a day when you meet seems to be the rule. As a not-French this always confounded me because you’re supposed to answer ‘ça va’ which to my mind defeated the purpose of the question. But one adapts and answers as required even if you’re at the instant just before that you were informed you’re terminally ill.
I guess it replaces showing that you have no weapons in your hands and are no danger in the way that money replaces true value.
I’d delete the comment and ignore it.
So the actually words mean something like “Comment about whether you’re okay” and the answer is “okay” regardless of whether you’re on top of the world, or just been given a week to live ?
I think we do similar in UK, people will ask “How are you?”, if you don’t answer “Good”, “great”, “okay” etc then you’ll get an odd look as if you’ve made the worst faux pax ever …
It’s alternating between trash and replying so far, another one is just to approve and ignore … I guess once my opinionated readers have had their say, I’ll make a decision 😀
I think I would borrow a response from Gag Halfrunt, the private brain care specialist of Zaphod Beeblebrox (Hitchhiker’s Guide characters, but I’m sure you knew that). He described his illustrious patient as “Just this guy, you know?”
LOL, answer a question with a question … very diplomatic 😀
I’m Rey Books, and you’re not.
Love it, thanks Rey 😀
Lol no prob