Daniel Chandler's article "Personal Home Pages and the Construction of Identities on the Web" has this to say about how such audiovisual content belies an ever increasing dynamism regarding how people manage their lives:
More fundamentally, however, web pages are much more dynamic than print. An oft-mentioned feature of this is that they can be linked to each other in complex ways using hypertext, in contrast to what some have seen as the linear nature of print (Snyder 1996). But perhaps most dramatically personal home pages have none of the fixity of print (I came across one British home page entitled ‘He changes his webpages more often than his underpants’! 2). The Web is a medium ideal adapted to the dynamic purposes of identity maintenance. Home pages constitute a medium which can be continually revised, making such pages closer in this sense to the provisional, informal and personal status of notes and drafts rather than to the formal and public status of published text. Text which is constantly revised seems to some writers to be part of themselves whilst that which is printed feels ‘dead’ and detached from them (Chandler 1992, 67; 1994a, 193; 1995a, 55-9, 151-5, 175-8).
So, the Web is especially good for individuals who like to change it up for their audiences. One web page's title really underscores the point:
I can be whatever I want to be! And why not? Insulated within the confines of one's own browsing environment and isolated from the inherent disclosures of a face-to-face interaction, there is hardly anything policing one to be anything but who they really are.

Obviously.
In 2004, a male college student penned conservative commentary under the guise of
his girlfriend an anonymous web picture. Blonde, busty, and an unashamed brand promoter for Abercrombie and Fitch, he was eventually discovered
spamming publication services such as
Blogdex. This created quite a stir. It opened up some ethical dialogues about being authentic and for proper services usage, sure.
Why
would someone want to be fake? I can come up with a few reasons.
1. The Internet is a portable and quick means of access to dating and having sex. Embellishing a few details may be worth it to get a lay.
2. Fabrications carry little foreseeable risk in some situations. Someone can lie about their appearance or age with little consequence to the other person, depending on the level of fabrication? If a five-year age difference or a small increase in penis size can go unnoticed, then it doesn't cause any undue harm.
3. Web users can safely explore alternative identities and behaviors in a safe and controlled environment. This is often popular in role-playing situations whether game-affiliated or chat and context-focused. Want to indulge a little? Let your imagination run wild.
4. And sometimes, with all the pressures of work, school, money, relationships, and family, sometimes it's just good to immerse yourself into a web site or forum. Distractions carry a small benefit of social belonging and hobby development, a little more dynamic and interactive than your favorite book or a dip in a hot bath.
Not all lies are abominable lies. Some are good; others can be useful or just plain fun. And to that, I ask, what's the harm in pretending to be a
cow?I don't think anyone would take issue with a man posting as a cow. It's sheer genius, total comedy!
My friend Douggy and I were members of an internet forum in common, and his distinction in the field, was posting web pictures and chatting as an anthropomorphic cow. Some posts would have some variant of "moo," but he tended to post in English and punctuate a lot of his content with hugs, kisses, and affection smileys. For the short time he participated on the board, the good majority of posters registered a favorable response. We appreciated his candor and lightness of heart, and he was never cross or rude to anyone. Quite the gentleman. On a board that takes reality rather seriously and has had its frustrations with upstarts posting fake pictures and identities, this was a welcome breath of fresh air. It seemed mutual. People really liked him and who wouldn't like being appreciated as a good... four-hooved mammal.
I invited him to tell me the story of why he left the board. Apparently, he got harrassed by a few unsavory characters, and he -- for appropriate pun use -- wandered off into greener pastures.
At this point, I don't quite know a good way to conclude this. I would like to believe that I am who I say I am, but I also recognize that, like most people, if I care about what you guys think of me, then I am all the more tempted to put my best appearance forward. As a blogger, I would like to think of myself as an intelligent person with something more worthwhile to tell you than what I ate for lunch this afternoon. I think it's worth exploring the social distance that some people place between their "Internet lives" and their real selves, and it is mutually worth exploring how those two fields narrow down. I also think it's worth validating that not all Internet lives are creating equally shallow, regardless of one's published rating on Hot or Not.
But, pointing it back to my new friend, I wanted to thank him for being a good guy. I want to wish him the best, express my thankfulness for the laughs, and I would hope that he somehow sees as real the care and respect that people have for him -- spots and all -- even if we are separated by many miles of ocean and fiber optics.
Take care, my man.