I recently wrote a column on Internet notoriety, and how it represents a form of celebrity we haven't really seen before (http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/cw-magazine/blogger/notorious-20/) . In the article, I mentioned a poster on the That's Beijing (thebeijinger?) forums who had, when I had read his posts, impressed me with being just a wonderfully surly character. I admit to having a fairly low opinion of BBS boards, but there was just the right combination of humor and hostility in this guy's posts to make his threads engaging.

Anyway, I was informed sometime later that the boards had picked up the story, and it had created enough of a stir to have people googling me and posting my picture on the forums. The thread soon escalated in hostility to include a series of fantastic revelations about your humble narrator. These included but were not limited to the following:

-Jonny is an alcoholic (and comes from a long line of alcoholics)

-Jonny went to Princeton

-Jonny lied about going to Princeton, but actually went to Wesleyan

-Jonny studied at Wesleyan, but never graduated and has been lying about his degree.

-Jonny needs to have his ass kicked (but he is too skinny, so you shouldn't do it*)

-Jonny is charming at first, but wears then quickly (maybe, they have something there)

-Jonny's hair looks like Hugh Grants, but it's not real. He is actually bald

-Jonny had sex with Elyse Ribbons to get his part in "I Heart Beijing" because he was not the first choice (and, even having slept her, only got the part because the top choices didn't want to do it because of a pending lawsuit against Elyse Ribbons and her theatre company)

-Jonny has written for "Business Weekly"(?) but has done so very seldomly, and needs people to buy his book because he is poor.

-Jonny is addicted to cocaine (I can often be seen coked out on nurenjie)

-Jonny was having sex with one of the other posters on the forum, but she broke up with him when he revealed his true sexual orientation

-Jonny date raped Annie of the restaurant Annie's

*Another person rescinded their offer to pay someone to beat me up upon learning that we had a mutual friend.

Sadly, the thread has since been shut down. I want it stated for the record that it was not me that request it be blocked. I have never taken so much joy in waking up each day to learn new things about myself.

I think you can still see the old thread here. http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19206&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

In the spirit of full disclosure, I suspect that some of the posters are in fact people I know that are just messing around. I would like to believe I could be that important to a bunch of randoms, but it's pretty unbelievable that I have made such an impression on people I don't know.

So, I ask you, have any of you had your 15 minutes on Internet threads, or is this attention reserved only for celebrities the caliber of English listing magazine writers?

Please post your experiences...