Interesting conversation. I have had a similar conversation in another forum where my friend who usually appears as Philm Phan talks about playing roles a lot. She thinks that we do it online, but also that to a varying degree we do it in real life too. In different situations, we present the person (or persona) we wish to be seen at that time. And that doesn't mean we are hiding our true selves, but that all of our personae are part of the real us.

Bagpuss