The Internet Persona

[The Boofon]

We get a lot of debate on here with regards to what people are like on here and what they are actually like in real life.

 

Is Millertime really as daft as he makes out, is Tup really so angry about everything, is Karl Fletcher actually nice, is Boofon as boring with nothing to say in real life (hello Rocket)

 

This article is incredible.

 

Why would someone do this? The ultimate in attention seeking? A release from boredom? Something completely different altogether?

 

Pretending to be a deaf quadriplegic cerebral palsy sufferer who dies

 

A deaf quadriplegic blogger who won the hearts of thousands with touching internet posts before his sister announced he had died from pneumonia has been exposed as a fraud.

 

'David Rose', a 24-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer, garnered legions of fans with his witty tweets and Facebook posts, which he said he typed using a Tobii computer that tracked his eye movement using infrared light.

 

After his story gained national coverage, Rose's sister 'Nichole' revealed online on October 11 that he had passed away, leading to an outpouring of grief and sympathy from across the internet.

 

But now a fellow blogger, who carried out web investigations after becoming suspicious of Rose, has exposed him as a fake, revealing just how he spun an intricate web of lies that fooled so many.

 

After learning of Rose's death and his 'last blog post', published by his sister on Friday, blogger Kristi-Anne began to question the story.

 

Writing a post exposing the fraud, she asked how a paraplegic who could only type four words a minute could keep in such swift and consistent contact with followers online.

 

She also wondered how life must be for someone who was deaf and unable to sign as a result of his cerebral palsy - yet also noted how he described his friends and relationships with such detail.

 

She then found that the photo Rose had been using was actually of Hunter Dunn, another young man with cerebral palsy, whose picture appears on the Tobii site.

 

Kristi-Anne was unable to discover Dunn's Facebook page, and noted that it was he who deserved the real praise for being an inspiration man, rather than the fake 'Rose'.

 

She added that most of Rose's tweets had been sent using TweetDeck, a social media dashboard where users can view multiple messages at once and send their own.

 

After sending her findings to theCHIVE, who had followed Rose's 'inspirational' story, they agreed it made no sense that Rose could be using this technology.

 

'Somebody using a Tobii ocular reader would never use TweetDeck,' wrote reporter John Resig. 'But somebody posing as Dave could easily use the Deck.'

 

'No celebrity or fame was intended in this ruse. I'm just a guy with a twisted psyche who realizes he's caused a lot of damage'

 

 

Resig added on his own post that one of his friends, who had been in close contact with Rose, flew to Los Angeles to attend his funeral after learning about his death.

 

But Nichole Rose made her excuses and refused to meet the friend. TheCHIVE also discovered there was no death certificate for Rose.

 

After Kristi-Anne published her blog post, a blogger immediately commented on it, admitting that they had carried out the hoax - and lauding its positive effects.

 

Yet, while identifying themselves as Nichole, the blogger added that that person was also a character - and her pictures were of an actress from a music video.

 

'No celebrity or fame was intended in this ruse; it all came quite fast and was a total surprise,' they wrote. 'Up until recently he only had a handful of online friends. The quick and furious fame is actually what brought about the end of it all.

 

'In hindsight it probably would have been better just to shut it all down and have everyone wonder what the hell happened, but the final post was meant to have the effect it did.

 

'To inspire people to love and live a better life, and the public knowledge that it came under this false pretense takes it all away. I hope that people who were moved by it still live by it, but it seems unlikely. It's possible that more damage has been done in your reveal than in the original deception.'

 

He added that he was 'just a guy with a twisted psyche who realizes he's caused a lot of damage' but that he would not reveal his identity as he didn't want to ruin his life.

 

TheCHIVE added: 'We've all been victimized by this disturbed individual.

 

'It never dawned on us that somebody with such an established internet footprint would actually be mascarading as a deaf, physically handicap person. It would seem absurd to believe somebody would go so far as to fake a death.'

 

The revelations come after the fraud, who claimed 'David' lived in a residential home for disabled people in Orange County, California, posted a 'last blog post' on Friday.

 

'You are all special. all of you unique!' it read. 'Love each other and make each other smile. a good joke is good medicine! make sure everyone around you have a smile ok?

 

'Always do what is right. always! but forgive yourself if you forget sometimes. i have to go now. i love you all. i really do. you are amazing. i will never forget you!"

 

Maintaining the ruse of deafness, he added: 'First of all want to ask if there is sound in heaven. i guess there is but not sure if i want it!

 

'Here on earth i been happy to be deaf and nobody seem to be very good at describe what is sound, so i have not miss it. but i guess if that part of the deal then i have to take what i get!'

 

Upon learning of David's death saddened followers of his social media postings wrote heartfelt tributes to him.

 

'Goodnight Dave and thank you so much for just being you brother,' commented on Twitter user under the handle @AlbusQ.

 

'In honor of David Rose, Am going to follow his advice and reach out to someone I haven't in awhile,' wrote @juanmagdaraog.

 

Many others posted messages with the words 'RIP' and 'goodnight', while the Chive's editor Mac Faulkner wrote: 'We lost a good man today. @daveonwheels you inspired a lot of people and your incredible personality will live on forever.'

 

[Sonoftherock]

We get a lot of debate on here with regards to what people are like on here and what they are actually like in real life.

 

Is Millertime really as daft as he makes out, is Tup really so angry about everything, is Karl Fletcher actually nice, is Boofon as boring with nothing to say in real life (hello Rocket)

 

I would say that very seldom would online personalities reflect real life personalities.

 

However, two of the names you mention above are spot on I reckon. I've never met Millertime before, but I'm told from those who have that he is 100% genuine - he's exactly same IRL.

 

Rocket_Scientist - I also think his real life character would quite closely resemble his online persona (although a little less extreme!). There are loads of guys on here that moan and whinge about the way our club is run (myself included), but we're essentially as JC once put it, 'faceless keyboard warriors' some of whom wouldn't normally say 'boo' to a goose. I'm led to believe that R_S turned up to a share holders meeting in person and took Willie Miller and Stewart Milne to task a few years ago. I'm guessing that R_S doesn't suffer fools gladly in real life, just as he doesn't online.

[The Boofon]

I would say that very seldom would online personalities reflect real life personalities.

 

However, two of the names you mention above are spot on I reckon. I've never met Millertime before, but I'm told from those who have that he is 100% genuine - he's exactly same IRL.

 

Rocket_Scientist - I also think his real life character would quite closely resemble his online persona (although a little less extreme!). There are loads of guys on here that moan and whinge about the way our club is run (myself included), but we're essentially as JC once put it, 'faceless keyboard warriors' some of whom wouldn't normally say 'boo' to a goose. I'm led to believe that R_S turned up to a share holders meeting in person and took Willie Miller and Stewart Milne to task a few years ago. I'm guessing that R_S doesn't suffer fools gladly in real life, just as he doesn't online.

 

 

Brilliant.

 

Rocket care to share this information?

[minijc]

I'm ace as fuck on here and off of here.

[RUL]

I would say that very seldom would online personalities reflect real life personalities.

 

However, two of the names you mention above are spot on I reckon. I've never met Millertime before, but I'm told from those who have that he is 100% genuine - he's exactly same IRL.

 

Rocket_Scientist - I also think his real life character would quite closely resemble his online persona (although a little less extreme!). There are loads of guys on here that moan and whinge about the way our club is run (myself included), but we're essentially as JC once put it, 'faceless keyboard warriors' some of whom wouldn't normally say 'boo' to a goose. I'm led to believe that R_S turned up to a share holders meeting in person and took Willie Miller and Stewart Milne to task a few years ago. I'm guessing that R_S doesn't suffer fools gladly in real life, just as he doesn't online.

The initial poster is right, I've noticed threads where people start to discuss each other tend to multiply in posts quicker than those about the team. I think people naturally like to know what people think of them.

 

I actually think most people are themselves online until someone says something negative, then folk start adjusting their posting style to avoid confrontation. The exception being millertime who probably has a binder of print outs with posts about him

[tup]

I'm not any different in real life.

 

But then surely posting stuff on an internet forum is real life anyway?

 

I don't get the distinction, unless you get folk pretending to be stuff they're not, and telling lies about stuff to try and make their lives seem interesting to complete strangers they'll never meet.

 

Most folk are the same in real life.

 

Except for RAZOR. A complete prick online, he's brand new in reality.

[Karl Fletcher]

[tup]

You could write the book on the development of the internet persona Karl.

 

You've cultivated yourself a David Beckham-esque online image, the Goldenballs of AFC Chat.

 

I'm trying my best to shatter it.

[The Boofon]

Going slightly off on a tangent here folks. The questions are raised as to why someone would do something so bizarre as the article suggests.

 

I'm sure there are many reasons why we occasionally speak shite on a message board but is what this guy has done taking it to the ultimate extreme?

[tup]

I'm not sure but there are parallels with Millertime.

 

He constantly speaks shite about buying new stuff for his house as if he's the only man who ever shells out for anything decent, has better taste than everyone else, has more money available, and all in all lives a Hello magazine-esque existence, albeit in one of the roughest parts of the whole country, an area which could be mistaken for Moscow to an untrained eye.

 

When it comes down to it most of it is self-aggrandising pish.

 

He genuinely believes it though, which mirrors the behaviour of weegies in real life, which is just as unbearable to listen to.

[Karl Fletcher]

You could write the book on the development of the internet persona Karl.

 

You've cultivated yourself a David Beckham-esque online image, the Goldenballs of AFC Chat.

 

I'm trying my best to shatter it.

 

Trying and failing miserably min!

 

Going slightly off on a tangent here folks. The questions are raised as to why someone would do something so bizarre as the article suggests.

 

I'm sure there are many reasons why we occasionally speak shite on a message board but is what this guy has done taking it to the ultimate extreme?

 

When people take it to the extreme like the chap you mention in the OP, it's usually because he's an absolute nobody in real life and has an unquenchable thirst for attention.

[tup]

When people take it to the extreme like the chap you mention in the OP, it's usually because he's an absolute nobody in real life and has an unquenchable thrist for attention.

 

Or maybe an unquenchable thirst for cyber pints

[tup]

Trying and failing miserably min!

 

I wouldna say that.

 

I would say folk definitely trust you less now than they did before.

 

They're looking at your nice posts with a sceptical eye these days, and rightly so.

 

It's the quiet ones that need watching.

[Henry]

Grieving for an internet poster

[tup]

Caring about stuff that happens

[Henry]

feelings

[Bluto10]

I can confirm that Karl Fletcher is a hunk

 

piss off.

fuckin faggot

[tup]

I don't think I've ever met anyone else as spot on as myself.

[Bluto10]

 

Maybe just a wee bit balder.

 

and a damn sight heavier

[tommo1903]

I know nobody from anywhere.

[tup]

I've never met anyone off here.

 

I don't want to either.

[Henry]

I've never met anyone off here.

 

I don't want to either.

 

What about when we all meet up for this game of doubles?

 

 

 

[tup]

What about when we all meet up for this game of doubles?

 

It's changed to singles.

 

EPK disna trust boofon to show up, he disna trust him full stop in fact.

 

I dinna really need you taking credit from my performance and piggy-backing on to my glory.

 

So it's singles now, between me and EPK.

 

Sorry min.

[looksgoodinred]

It's changed to singles.

 

EPK disna trust boofon to show up, he disna trust him full stop in fact.

 

I dinna really need you taking credit from my performance and piggy-backing on to my glory.

 

So it's singles now, between me and EPK.

Sorry min.

 

not if you never intend to meet anyone from here.

[Henry]

FFS, I've bought a new cue!

[tup]

not if you never intend to meet anyone from here.

 

That's different, it's for charity.

 

Which is what I'm all about.

[looksgoodinred]

That's different, it's for charity.

 

Which is what I'm all about.

 

so, for the right reason(s), you would meet somewhere from here then?

so never say never, Tup.

[tup]

so, for the right reason(s), you would meet somewhere from here then?

so never say never, Tup.

 

Aye, what I'm trying to say is that I really don't like other people much.

 

I'll put up with them when I have to.

 

In EPK's case, he's been coming the cunt about how good he supposedly is at pool, and I'm going to put the cunt back in his box.

[ollie1903]

You could write the book on the development of the internet persona Karl.

 

You've cultivated yourself a David Beckham-esque online image, the Goldenballs of AFC Chat.

 

I'm trying my best to shatter it.

Tup - The Rebecca Loos of AFC-Chat

 

I'd wager you've wanked a pig too

[tup]

You're like the Jimmy Five Bellies of the Highland League, sidling up to the Gazza's of the semi-pro scene, making capital out of your friendships with them.