Bold of you to assume that I don’t still imagine my online friends whose irl appearance I’m familiar with as their profile character. Heck, I now share an apartment with someone I originally met online and when I happen to be thinking of them I sometimes imagine them in-character despite seeing them in person all the time. It’s like a weird mode switch thing where if Im thinking of them in some “common” context like shopping I imagine how they actually look, but if it’s some less everyday context that I’m thinking of, like inviting them to an event of some sort, I often imagine them the way they present themselves online instead without really thinking about it.
Bold of you to assume that I don’t still imagine my online friends whose irl appearance I’m familiar with as their profile character. Heck, I now share an apartment with someone I originally met online and when I happen to be thinking of them I sometimes imagine them in-character despite seeing them in person all the time. It’s like a weird mode switch thing where if Im thinking of them in some “common” context like shopping I imagine how they actually look, but if it’s some less everyday context that I’m thinking of, like inviting them to an event of some sort, I often imagine them the way they present themselves online instead without really thinking about it.