<p>Sometimes when I’m going to answer someone’s question I look back at their old posts for more information. In the past week I have found:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>One post by a parent asking for info about her daughter’s elite college chances, and several posts under same screen name by a kid who is failing two classes.</p></li>
<li><p>One post by someone claiming near perfect scores on his SATs and asking about chances into certain schools, and another post from a few months ago stating same poster is a high school sophomore.</p></li>
<li><p>One post from a parent on a thread devoted to B average students, and post from same parent claiming 4.0 GPA and asking about Ivy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Can someone please help me understand what the point is of not being honest on CC? It’s an anonymous forum, and how can you possibly give or get advice if people never tell the truth? I understand the motivation in real life to inflate yourself (or your child), but why here? If you aren’t really a senior with near perfect SATs, does having a bunch of strangers tell you that you are amazing really do something for you?</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t get it. Anyone who has been here longer than I have have some theory about this?</p>
<p>Please consider, at least in the case of the Parents Forum, that some people have more than one child. Back when my kids were in high school, I could easily have posted questions about a student who slacked off in school and was aiming at a state university and about a top student in a selective magnet program who was aiming at the Ivy League or its equivalent. One is my son; the other is my daughter.</p>
<p>And for the high schoolers, what motivation do they need other than the fact that they’re teenagers? Perhaps having a bunch of strangers tell you you’re amazing does do something for a 15, 16 or 17 year old. Perhaps the high school sophomore is trying to figure out what it would be like if she did put in the type of effort to get those perfect scores/grades. If the poster said, “I’m a sophomore and if I get perfect scores, what will my options be?” the responses would be “Don’t count on getting perfect scores. Concentrate on being a sophomore.” So the poster posts fictitiously.</p>
<p>There are all sorts of possibilities. The names have been changed to protec the innocent.</p>
Not only that, some posters have twins and are doing the college search for two kids at the same time, God bless 'em. I’ve been confused by several posters in the past when I checked their earlier posts, and later found they were parents of twins.</p>
<p>And I know of some folks, kids and parents, who do fib on this and other forums. It’s a little pathetic and a little amusing. Some people may change facts to lessen the possibility of being identified online (which isn’t fibbing, of course). What’s the motivation for being untruthful in real life? Some people may claim their kid has a 93 average when it’s actually an 89 because they really, really think their kid should have that 93. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Here’s another question: what if you recognize an individual from real life posting on cc and know that what they’re saying simply isn’t true? Do you ignore them? Do you pm them that they might want to be more discreet about personal information they’re posting as they’re readily identifiable and what they’re stating online simply isn’t true? Rhetorical question as I have no intention of doing either of those things but you just have to wonder why people misrepresent themselves. If you want honest feedback, be truthful.</p>
<p>I think it is a fact of anonymous internet forums that people are hiding behind a name and can say anything they want and are likely to not be found out too easily. So, some lie on internet forums more so than in regular life. I don’t do it and I don’t get it but I know it is a fact of anonymous internet forums. </p>
<p>What you can do is over time, if a member has been on a forum for a long while, and you read their body of posts, you can get a feel for how much to trust their posts and so forth. That is harder to do with a new member. </p>
<p>However, one observation is what the OP says about being able to look up past posts by a member and so it can happen that someone contradicts their own posts and that is easy to notice as all their posts are saved and can be read. (though the example of discussing more than one child in the family can explain it sometimes)</p>
<p>Lastly, there may be some who alter the “facts” a little in order to remain anonymous. I’m just guessing. I don’t do that and therefore, likely me or my kids can be easily identified if reading many posts over time I imagine.</p>
<p>Perhaps at first they intended to be honest, but considering most threads are about Ivy schools, super scores, etc…, a CCier/teen is more likely to feel inferior, and feel stupid for applying/attending a school that is not top notch, but still want to participate in CC forums. I don’t know who is lying or who isn’t, but sometimes I am chocked by the dumb questions. Especially from those who have perfect stats on CC, apply to top private schools. I am thinking “My gosh, is he/she going to make it in that school.”</p>
<p>^^You just answered your own question. It’s anonymous - people sometimes lie because they can. </p>
<p>Over the years we’ve seen cases of people creating elaborate stories for themselves, whole new lives, for what purpose I don’t know. Just to create mischief perhaps. To fool people and trick them in to responding. I don’t understand the atraction, but I can’t count the number of ■■■■■■ we’ve had over the years of some poster showing up on the Parents board and describing some dilemma they need help or advice on - only to have the whole thing collpase under its own inconsistencies and disappear after few days when the parents began to smell a rat. And if the opening story is even halfway convincing, the well-meaning and helpful parents almost always get sucked into the deception at first and start offering sincere advice.</p>
<p>A different form of deception I think exhibits itself among the kids. There is a certain amount of keeping up with the Joneses out there. Students see all these high-end stats flying around and start embelishing their own stats or story to keep up.</p>
<p>I agree with the above post by coureur and have observed the same situations on CC. </p>
<p>That is why I mentioned earlier that one way to sort of “trust” posts is by reading a member’s posts over time. I look at long term members’ posts whose posts I have read over a long time in a different light than someone’s posts who I am not yet familiar with.</p>
<p>Again, the phenomena of people lying on the internet is not confined to CC. What about all the dating forums or chat rooms where people lie about their age, their looks, or even their gender? It is rampant as it is anonymous.</p>
<p>That said, there are a ton of honest posters on CC. I have met many in real life. I am meeting someone from CC tomorrow in fact who is visiting in my area.</p>
<p>One more thing…sometimes no lying is involved but readers may simply form an erroneous impression. For instance, when I first came to CC seven years ago, I thought mini was a female member. I read the posts thinking mini was a mom. I met mini in real time and he is a dad. Just one example of reading posts a certain way that were misinterpreted. Just like someone mentioned that a member may not be lying if they contradict their posts because they are talking about different children they have.</p>
<p>Does people really do that! I mean, go back to read posts and compiled info from a specific CCier, and try to figure out if this individual is lying. Wow!!! One has to take these posts for what they are. Entertaining. And if you are lucky, once in a while you will come across a good advice or piece of information.</p>
<p>This is mostly entertainment. I cannot believe that anybody would rely on information here when making life changing decisions. Seriously, there are contact to be made with all kinds of departments at prospective colleges and a lot of research to be done before you commit thousands of $$ and 4 - 5 years of your kid life. So, do not stress out if somebody made willing or unwilling mistake here, on CC.</p>
<p>eucalyptus…I rarely look up a member’s posting history but I have done so occasionally when I grow skeptical about their post and so I look up what else they have said. And those are often the times when the member is someone who is putting something over.</p>
<p>You mean all my tales of being a 6’ 2" Swedish supermodel who also went to Harvard undergrad, got 2390 on my SATs (a 2400 wouldn’t be believable, now, would it), who invented the iPhone, who went to Yale Med School, and who performs cleft palate surgery, pro bono, in 3rd world countries – you mean you didn’t believe all that?? I am sooooooo offended.</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I remember you saying you had a 2394 - stuck in my mind because it was my exact score also. Of course those were before re-centering, so they would be higher now!</p>
<p>Parents who post on the 3.0 to 3.3 GPA thread & have a kid who is taking tons of A/P courses & is looking at top notch schools actually, they annoy me! That is “one upmanship” in my opinion & there is too much of that already. If your child doesn’t fit the criteria for that thread as specified by the OP, (who is ReadyToRoll) then don’t post there. Give us parents whose child does not have perfect SAT scores, a GPA of 4.0 and bunches of A/P courses a place to post! Don’t pretend to have a 3.0 - 3.3 kid when your kid is looking at Ivy League schools or Bryn Mawr, Barnard or one of those elite schools.</p>