Embarrassment From the Past

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Liu Yuante
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Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Liu Yuante »

There are a fair number of people who have posted on SoSZ for years (a decade + in some cases), and I'm sure there are also many who have had a longstanding presence elsewhere on the 'net.

Have you ever had a situation where you go into some old thread, and read a post and say, "Wow - that's embarrassing. I'd hate to be the guy who wrote that -- oh wait, that was me. Well, guess I'll go step in front of a speeding bus now and die."

I was in my early twenties when I joined this board and...well, let's just say my personality has changed a little. In a completely unrelated matter, I have a list of threads that need to be purged from the site forever, just as soon as James can get around to it.
Last edited by Liu Yuante on Mon May 12, 2014 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sun Fin
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Sun Fin »

I was 15 when I first joined, my early posts fill me with horror whenever I stumble across one.
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Zyzyfer
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Zyzyfer »

Yes, certainly. I used to play the King of Fighters series quite a bit, and really got into some of the online communities that sprung up as I discovered the wonders of the Internet. The series has a huge following in Southeast Asia, so I joined some more eccentric communities as well. One of them in particular was actually a forum for women (I'm a dude) who were into the games. There were therefore tons of emoticons flying about, and I wanted to fit in since it was an offshoot of a larger forum, so I was fairly prodigious with my use of emoticons.

I also had a brief stint where I did a derivative of the Filipino-style capitalization thing. Although this laid the groundwork for my later use of all lowercase letters when being facetious, so it's not all bad.

Considering I am not even Asian, the feeling that comes to me when I see these goofy old posts is the opposite of fondness. Of course, I imagine I will look back on my current posts in five or 10 years' time and question why I purposefully wrote in such a stiff and jilted manner. I could have written this post in a more direct and straightforward sort of style, but I have been on a "writing bloated crap" kick for a while now.
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Shikanosuke
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Shikanosuke »

Liu Yuante wrote:There are a fair number of people who have posted on SoSZ for years (a decade + in some cases), and I'm sure there are also many who have had a longstanding presence elsewhere on the 'net.

Have you ever had a situation where you go into some old thread, and read a post and say, "Wow - that's embarrassing. I'd hate to be the guy who wrote that -- oh wait, that was me. Well, guess I'll go step in front of a speeding bus and die, now."

I was in my early twenties when I joined this board and...well, let's just say my personality has changed a little. In a completely unrelated matter, I have a list of threads that need to be purged from the site forever, just as soon as James can get around to it.

Agreed wholeheartedly. Many of my old posts were made in a period of life I can now only describe as immature. It's literally cringe-inducing when i read my old posts.
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Dong Zhou
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Dong Zhou »

I tend to know which ones are my post, it doesn't make it any less embarrassing. So I try not to look at my past posts, it is never a cheery thing to see my more immature times
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Shen Ai
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Shen Ai »

Ohh... tell me about it. My early posts bordered on the annoying troll.
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James
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by James »

Liu Yuante wrote:I was in my early twenties when I joined this board and...well, let's just say my personality has changed a little. In a completely unrelated matter, I have a list of threads that need to be purged from the site forever, just as soon as James can get around to it.
I've got... 12+ years of history on this website? Participating through all 12 years...

Sometimes I stumble across my own posts and don't even realize their mine, right away, when I read them. Then I see my name and am somewhat shocked or surprised. It might be because it's an opinion I'm honestly surprised I had at one point, or simply because the 'tone' or character of my post is something which seems completely foreign. And there have certainly been some which I've thought to myself, "That really needs to not be here." I leave them anyway, though.

It's one part cool, one part horrifying, and one part interesting to see the 12 years of my life gradually evolving through opinions here. Mostly cool because I can actually see how long it took me to get over some ideas which weren't supported by factual evidence, while at the same time having a timeline of sorts to reflect on how the process of changing my mind on something took place.

Maybe in ten more years I'll look back at this year's posts and be equally horrified.
Dong Zhou wrote:I tend to know which ones are my post, it doesn't make it any less embarrassing. So I try not to look at my past posts, it is never a cheery thing to see my more immature times
I definitely don't seek them out.
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Exar Kun
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Exar Kun »

Definitely know this feel. I imagine I'm one of the more aggressive SGYYS posters over the years that never got banned. Given how my views have moderated over the years, definitely a bit of a surprise seeing old posts.

Even worse I wonder just how much free time I used to have back then that I could be crafting posts that long over and over. :lol:
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Antiochus
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Antiochus »

First post the young me wrote:Liu Bei start is empire from nothing and he did a lot better than Godsun Zan who already had a good post.
I was quite the wordsmith...
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Sun Fin
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Re: Embarrassment From the Past

Unread post by Sun Fin »

Antiochus wrote:
First post the young me wrote:Liu Bei start is empire from nothing and he did a lot better than Godsun Zan who already had a good post.
I was quite the wordsmith...
Yeah... I don't want to play that game :lol:
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Check out my library here for a list of Chinese history resources I have on hand and my tumblr to see if I have reviewed it!
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