Ever since I discovered it for myself, the Internet has fascinated me. It is, in my view, the most decisive invention in human history since the discovery of fire. I’m actually always on the Net, always surfing, from here to there and back again. I was one of the first IRC users in Iceland. And I love Facebook. It’s just such fun to share stuff on Facebook with people, or follow their activities. I’ve also used Facebook to spread my views.
But since I’ve been mayor, Facebook has lost its entertainment value for me. My contacts with my Facebook friends are not the same as before, though I can’t say exactly why that is so. Maybe the others have suddenly gotten self-conscious. In any case, this break can’t be denied, and I think that’s a crying shame. It’s as if an invisible wall has slid between me and other people. Only now and then do I get a private message, sometimes even from old friends—who were probably sitting slumped in front of their computer with a bottle of red wine and suddenly felt the need to tell me something.
My real Facebook profile runs under a pseudonym and is accessible to only my very best friends. In addition, I have five fictitious identities. For example, I’m an older woman who comes off as pretty open-minded and positive. Then I’m an Icelandic captain who works for the North Korean airline Air Koryo, a British guy living alone in Kingston-upon-Hull, and a dim, untalented but avid hobby photographer. And finally, I’m a bitter gay man who has retired from society and bunkered down in a summer house somewhere in the country where he wants to live in harmony with nature; he hangs around all day on news portals and dating forums. All of these people also have masses of Facebook friends, who of course also do not exist. Only a few know who is behind all the imaginary figures.
It’s still a lot of fun to have my say through these people. For example, if someone sends me a link to some caustic comment about me, then the lively, open-minded lady immediately arrives on the scene and defends me and my position.
Apart from these fake identities I run two regular Facebook pages: The one, called “Diary of a Mayor,” is mostly about the City of Reykjavík and urban issues. And then there is the homepage of the public person Jón Gnarr. This site is entirely in English and serves to spread my thoughts and views beyond the borders of Iceland.