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Chatroom Advice: What To Do With Imposters.

Note: I'm putting this under my AC/DC section, but I'm going to keep it generalized, since it could apply to any kind of "fan" or "celebrity" chat.            If you sometimes waste time in chat rooms, (well, of course, you don't waste it, that's quality time!) you know that people can easily get screen names to pretend that they're other people. At times, this can be harmful, but more often this is used for a comic effect. In "fan" chatrooms, people sometimes pretend to "really" be the admired band member/actor/etc. Hey, everybody surfs the internet, it's possible that the real deal could just happen to want to talk to fans, right? Well...if such a person/people are going to chat, the record company, webmaster of the official site, or whoever else is in charge will usually set up a time and place beforehand, so it's highly unlikely that a person who claims that they're a celebrity is really one if they spontaneously pop into a chat room.      These types are called posers or imposters. They usually don't cause much damage, since unless someone is very inexperienced with chats, most people know it's a fake. Why do people do this? If it's someone who is a regular at the chat and is fairly intelligent, they do it for some fun, humor, and to liven things up. They know that everyone really knows they're a fake, but good-naturedly play the role and argue that they are who they say they are.  There's also another type of imposter: the kind that aren't too bright. They give obvious hints that they're fakers, and seem to think that they really can still convince everyone of who are they are. The real dumb ones, when asked about information to "test" them, give a totally wrong answer.       What I'm going to do here is give tips on how to play around with imposters. This will be hilarious most of the time! The goal is to make it as funny as it can be.

How you handle the poser can depend on who else is in the chatroom. If you're alone in the room and an imposter comes in, you've got them all to yourself, and can say to them whatever you choose. If others are there, they could go along with you, but could also make your strategy not work. For example, you might want to play along with the imposter, making them think you believe them (while you're laughing your head off), but the others might be trying to prove the lie (and vice versa). Or, if you decide to play a different character yourself, the others who aren't quite in tune with your plan could give you away. Example: Imposter: Hello, my admiring fans! Chatter1: I'm a moderator at this chat; I can report you for fraud, which could result in fines. Chatter2: No, he/she isn't! He/she is just a regular chatter here! Private message from Chatter1 to Chatter2: They're trying to mess with our heads; I was just trying to mess with them right back! Private message from Chatter2 to Chatter1: Oops, sorry! See what could happen? If things like this happen, you may have to explain your plan to the others or switch tactics.

There are many things you can do to make everyone laugh in the course of the imposter's chat. (This I highly suggest)If the persona is male, and you are female (heck, even if you're male, you could pretend to be a female: this is the 'Net, after all), tell the poser that they are the father of your baby. Demand child support, tell them that you'll make the affair public, or "describe" the tour bus/hotel room/backstage where you got pregnant in the first place. The possibilitiess are endless. If the imposter is on the stupid side, they'll be dumbfounded!       If there was ever a "drug bust" in the band's history, you could say something like: "Dude, I totally remember getting backstage with you guys, smoking that killer weed (or whatever drug) you dudes scored! Too bad I tipped off the cops, huh?"       Be creative, you can come up with other things like this.

To expose, or to play along? There are two main options when dealing with an imposter: expose the fake, or play along, pretending that you believe who they are. You can say from the beginning that you know they aren't real, and this will usually cause the fake to try and convince everyone, often not making much sense. You could also ask information to test them, such as in the example: Chatter1: Okay, if you're really (who they say they are), when's your birthday? Imposter: July 15th! Chatter1: Not even close, fake. The right birthday is January 28th.     You'd think that an imposter would know or research their information BEFORE they try to convince others to make their argument effective. However, this is not the case; as I mentioned before, posers often aren't very bright, and the giving of wrong information is hilarious.     My personal preference is to play along with the poser. This shows their idiocy in that they are dumb enough to think they're winning the game, but everyone is just laughing at them. The example above, shown with this strategy instead: Chatter1: Okay, if you're really (who they say they are), when's your birthday? Imposter: July 15th! Chatter1: Hmm, that sounds about right. You must be the real deal! Imposter: See, I knew I could prove it! Private message from Chatter2 to Chatter1: What an idiot, the real birthday is January 28th! Private message from Chatter1 to Chatter2: I know, and he/she actually thinks we believe them! HAHAHAHA!

From the experience I've had in chat rooms, there are my best tips. Be creative, go with the flow, you could think of many other things. I remember one time I was in the chat, some person would log in saying they were one band member, chat for a while, log out, and come back saying they were a different band member. This happened a few times, until he got the whole band in. There were 1 or 2 other people in there, and we had this guy getting his story all confused (he would talk about what band members had said before when they hadn't "come in" yet, and other things). The funniest thing of all was that he spelled the same words wrong each time he popped in as a "different" person!    Anyway, don't think of imposters as an annoyance; think of them as a game to play!