Fake It For Fun

You could have fun fooling the world. There's nothing stopping you from creatively reinventing and presenting yourself in any manner you choose. Don't do it to rip anybody off and please don't steal anyone else's identity. You could have fun without causing harm to anyone else.

First thing: You've got a create a profile of who "you" are. You'll use this profile when you start to develop "your"website. Think about who you want to be, or rather, who you intend to present yourself as. Think about stuff like: how old you are, what you look like, where you live, your education, your job, your family, possessions, achievements, goals, and your dreams. You don't have to write out all this stuff if you can keep its straight your head. ( If you like this idea you probably are already an accomplished liar and keeping this straight is no problem for you ). The more detail you give your profile that easier it will be to jump into your imaginary character's identity.

Second thing: Develop a homepage for the new "you". Introduce yourself, tell your life story, post your resume, talk about your family and your job. Put up a list of your favorite links etc. ...

Does it sound kind of boring? I suppose it could be if you don't push the envelope a bit. Have some fun with your character. Be outrageous, politically incorrect, or egotistical. ( You might find you have to go back and enhance your character's profile a little ). I think your goal should be to have the site be entertaining: do whatever it takes. Let your character be a fool if that's what it takes.

See how far you can push credibility. This example is probably takes it too far but it gets across the idea. If you're character is a "famous" brain surgeon named Dr. Druncardo, have the egotistical doc write about being drunk in surgery or something outrageous like that :

"I know some will think it is wrong but it calms my nerves. Its not a problem for me given my extraordinary ability. I've only passed out in surgery once. My colleagues in the operating room thought I put my head on the patients chest to listen to her breathing! It turned out well - she did have an edema and as usual I came out a hero".

Put up a guestbook to get feedback from the site's visitors. Invite email. If you worry about using your own email address for your site and you want to be more anonymous - you can get as many free web-based email accounts from DesignStop.Com as you want. Get them here.

Eventually you could end your joke; you could restructure the site and write about how gullible people can be. You could feature excerpts from the email you've received to prove it. Turn the site into one on hoaxes ...

If you like this idea enough to try it I strongly urge you to be extremely careful. Scrutinize your own work to make sure nobody can be hurt by what you're doing. To make my point lets look at an example: Lets say you did a site for the imaginary Dr. Druncardo I noted above. If his site said he practiced in Florida, then it is quite possible that the Florida Medical Board, or whatever they call themselves, would get complaints about the doctor. Imagine how peeved they'd be with you when they spent money investigating the imaginary doc. They might even try to sue poor old you. Your little prank all of a sudden wouldn't be so funny would it? Take care and still have fun - be creative.

If you attempt to create a site like this page suggests, I hope you'll and let me in on the joke. I'm sure my devious mind will have some more ideas for you.

PS. If your interested in learning about famous ( and infamous ) hoaxes here's a book you might enjoy. It is cartoon style so it is really easy to read. You might get some really good ideas ...