Separated at birth! Or not.

[telophase]

So, do you often find yourself mixing up people on your LJ/DW reading lists? I find it interesting how I tend to tag people with a few superficial characteristics, which in most cases is sufficient to identify them right off, but in other cases causes me to mix them up for a short bit until I sort them out. I think so far I've managed to sort them out before I've made any comments under the impression that they were someone else.

The thought brought up because my reading list includes the journals of two people who have a few superficial similarities who I mix up all the time. They:

-- are the same gender
-- have the same sort of job at a similar sort of institution
-- have both had a difficult year, albeit for different reasons
-- have the same basic relationship status

and, most importantly to my brain, it seems:

-- their journal names start with the same letter (o noes!)

So, if I ever comment with something that seems completely off-base ... it might just be me mixing you up with someone else. XD

Comments

[solarbird]

Actually I have pretty few people over here and I think only one who is not also on LJ, so I... guess not?

So what're my superficial characteristics, and are they the same on LJ as DW? ^_^

[telophase]

I think I've tagged you with "posts arty nature photos" because for some reason I keep mixing you up with someone on DW who frequently posts them. XD There's also a "possibly Canananananadian or at least Up Thataway *waves hand vaguely northward*" in there somewhere.* I don't know why I don't tag you as "musician," because I think you may be the only one who actively plays and posts frequently about it.

I have a vague sense of ... not mixing you two up, but faintly conflating you with troubleinchina, but I can't explain why. XD


* There is a vague geographic sense to some people in my brain, it seems.

[solarbird]

I think I've tagged you with "posts arty nature photos" because for some reason I keep mixing you up with someone on DW who frequently posts them.
...actually I used to do that a lot and have fallen out of the habit. (See tags "flowerpics" and "leafpics" and "photography" over on LJ.) Thanks for the reminder! New one posted! ^_^

There's also a "possibly Canananananadian or at least Up Thataway *waves hand vaguely northward*" in there somewhere.
That's about right. -_^

I don't know trouble-in-China but my rl partner's name is Anna, so there you go!

[lady_ganesh]

I friended two people in the same fandom within, I think, a month or so of one another, and they both had similarly-styled usernames, and it was years before I could properly tell them apart.

[ashenmote]

I seem to mix up people by their vocals. If I had, let's say, a 'Galahad' and a 'Padawan' on my friendslist, there's a good chance I will mix them up. And learning more things about them doesn't necessarily help if I memorize them in their shared a-a-a space of my brain, I guess.

Apart from that I only run into problems with name changes or when people use different names in different places. But that goes away after a while, whereas the vocal nix up doesn't.

[telophase]

I'll also mix people up if they use vaguely similar icons. :)

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Ooo! Am I taged with superficial characteristics? If so, what are they? Curiosity!!

Or am I still too fringe to your journaling experience to register? :(

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Actually, you're tagged something like "Not a Cepheid but in that neighborhood." XD There's a sort of social proximity there that I don't have with lots of other LJers - I don't think I've ever met you in RL, but there's a possibility, and we have sort-of overlapping social circles.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Cool. In my head you are still tagged as one of my favorite comic artists. I can't remember the name of the comic anymore, but it was the one that was about a student-run sci-fi convention. I know you've moved on to do bigger and better things, but to me that'll always be the association in my noggin. :P

[awamiba.livejournal.com]

I confuse two girls on facebook all the time. Their last names are one letter apart (first names the same)& they share hair color & body types. Both like to say things that are shocking, albeit about radically different things. But still, my brain cannot handle the confusion.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

There's someone on my Facebook who I just recently realized wasn't who I thought she was. I have no idea who she is or why she friended me. XD

[awamiba.livejournal.com]

I have a few of those on my list as well. One lady & I decided that while we never knew each other before, obviously Facebook had its reasons, as we may as well have been separated at birth.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

Ooooooh, now I want to know what my superficial characteristics are, if any!

I do this all the time with a couple of people in my cohort. Very nice people, all of them, but their names are similar and so is their hair color and face and basic life stats. I'm getting better at sorting them out, but I had two utterly switched for a while.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Pookie! And Aya and Yohji. With a growing side of "gardens" and "library". :) But you're primarily associated with your dog in my head. :)