Hannah (dottish.com)

These interviews started with the intention of getting to know my online friends better, and exposing a side of them that might not necessarily be apparent online. Each interviewee was asked ten questions, five of which were generic, and five of which directly applied to the specific individual. If you are interested in being interviewed, please leave a comment on this post.

Interview with Hannah of dottish.com:

• Do your friends and family know you have a blog? If so, do they read it?
  Both my friends and family know I have a blog, however, none of them read it and I won’t give my mother my URL(s). My brother has read it a few times, but I wouldn’t call him a regular visitor or anything. I know my boyfriend reads it from time to time, my best friend reads it whenever it’s updated as she has one herself, and my other best friend has read it before, and probably visits once or twice a month. I’ve actually shown my other friends it a lot, but none of them really care to read it. They’re with me in my daily life, so they don’t feel they need to read it.
• When did you first start becoming involved in the “internet world”?
  I started becoming involved in the “internet world” when I was like seven, in about 1997, if I remember correctly. I started just doing chat rooms and such as the internet was still quite young when it came to entertainment. After, I got into Neopets, and eventually started building websites! :) I’ve taken a year off before, and two years as well, but I haven’t since.
• What are your favorite places to visit online?
  Mostly, I visit the forums I’m a member of: The Physical Fanlistings, The Taboolistings, The Fanlistings and Vegetarian Option. I have Twitter and GMail open 24/7, and visit the online trading card game I’m a member of, Sugar and Spice, frequently. I’ve also been known to hit YouTube up a few times a day to watch clips of musicals I love, and Amazon is my good friend.
• Do you ever feel like it’s hard to maintain a balance between online and offline life?
  It’s definitely difficult to balance an online and offline life, especially when you hold both very, very close to your heart. I had a crazy difficult time keeping that balance a few years ago because I started doing theatre a lot after spending three years with only an online life. I didn’t have offline friends or anything, so jumping into theatre and making all those friends that required my time was really difficult. I didn’t really find a perfect balance until this last year. And if anyone wants to know how I balance, I take my laptop with my wherever I go at night, spend the day, when I don’t have to work, doing homework and browsing the internet a little bit, and take a few hours before bed to update things.
• Does your online personality differ from your offline personality? Do you find yourself acting differently in situations online than you would offline?
  Yes. I have a huge fear of communication, like the telephone, and even IMing, so the online Hannah is a lot more talkative to anyone than the offline Hannah. For example, I’m always like, “HI! How are you, person I don’t know?!?” online, but offline, I’d probably hide in a corner and cower until they introduces themselves to me. In online situations also, like drama, it’s honestly a piece of cake to deal with. I don’t typically blow up and I have an easier time staying calm. Offline, heh, well, I’m a lot stubborn and a bit hot headed. But, with both sides of me, I’m almost always really happy, loud, loving and willing to compromise. I really hate fights or disliking people, so in both “realms”, I’m always trying to mend things with people. Oh, and I tend to ramble a lot in both places. ;D
• You talk a lot about your boyfriend, Mike, on your blog. Does he read your blog? If not, does he know you write about him online?
  He does! And I almost always let him read what I’m writing to make sure he’s okay with it. Matter of fact, I have two pages dedicated to him on my blog, and, before I posted them, I had him read and change anything he wanted to. It’s kind of funny, because, aside from my best friend and brother who are both computer nerds, Mike is the only person I’ve ever found that’s interested in what I do and likes to see me work on things. He’s also been known to chat with some of my online friends. Oh! And he’s been considering getting a Twitter. :P
• You are very open online in regards to what you get up to on a daily basis in your offline life. How has this openness affected the way you blog? Does it ever worry you that your trust in those online might get violated?
  I think my openness has made my blogs more as if I was talking. If you know me offline, you would read my blog and read it like I was saying it. With my trust in online friends, I rarely worry about it. I have had many people do this to me in the past and now, I just let it go and don’t think about it. If you read something I’ve written anywhere, chances are it’s nothing tons of people offline don’t know already. I’ve even talked about my virginity in places. It’s not exactly something I’d like to tell my mother, but everyone else I know basically knows about it, entirely.
• Theater is a huge part of your life. How did this love begin?
  Ah theatre. One of my true loves! I knew I would have a question similar to this. I actually started doing theatre type things when I was really, really little at my church. My pastor’s wife did a lot of community theatre and loved to bring that love to the children’s choir, of which I was a member. Eventually, she found sheet music to the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and decided to have the children’s choir sing it. I ended up doing Joseph, as there were only two guys in the choir and both didn’t want to do it at all, and I suppose it all started there! Quite a few years later, that same lady directed me in quite a few other shows and I even got the opportunity to act with her a few times.
• It seems as though you always have something to say, no matter what the subject is. Are you as open about your opinions offline as well as online? Do you ever find yourself speaking for others online or offline, either intentionally or unintentionally?
  I am. I’ve always been loud when it comes to voicing my opinion. When I was younger, if I didn’t, I basically got stepped right over, so, since then, I’ve been very, very opinionated. I do find myself talking for others, quite unintentionally. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it has been known to happen, but mostly offline, rarely online. The only times I’m not speaking up are when I’m in a larger group of people I don’t know, or around Mike’s family. :P
• You are a Computer Technology major. Why did you choose this field? Between being a Computer Tech major and a member of various online communities, do you ever feel you spend too much time online?
  I chose it because computers and all technology have always been my life. I definitely know I spend too much time online, but it doesn’t bother me because it’s a lot less time than I used to spend. The thing is: during the week, I’m almost always home alone the entire day, so there’s really not much else to do. I would feel bad about my online time if I wasn’t doing anything productive, but I have always felt that building websites and such are learning experiences. I don’t tend to spend that much time at my online communities, I spend more time doing homework (as I have a lot of online classes) and building/fixing my websites. I know people will be asking this while reading, I took online classes opposed to offline/lectures because I do better without the annoyance of other students asking questions I already know the answer to, or attending class for something I’m already well read in, like webdesign. It just fits me. :) My mother used to think I spent too much time on my computer, but I think she respects it now, and I know my friends do.

Tags: interviews