pretendohen

Pretendohen is a neologism used to describe a form of social play in which participants adopt a detailed alternate persona for creative or exploratory purposes. Typically performed within online communities, role-playing spaces, or collaborative fiction projects, pretendohen emphasizes deliberate separation from the actor's everyday identity. The term combines the English verb pretend with a suffix -ohen, though its precise linguistic origins are debated; it first appeared in online discussions in the early 2020s and has since circulated in speculative fiction and performance forums.

Practices usually involve selecting a persona with defined characteristics, backstory, and behavioral rules that guide interactions within a defined space. Participants may collaborate on shared worldbuilding, conduct improvised scenes, or produce written, audio, or visual content. Some user groups advocate structured workflows and safety guidelines to protect participants’ privacy and well-being, including clear consent, opt-out options, and boundaries on sensitive topics.

Origins and terminology: the coinage’s exact origins are unclear; discussions attribute its emergence to online role-playing communities and studies of performativity in digital environments, with various individuals cited as early adopters.

Applications: pretendohen is used for creative writing, educational demonstrations of identity and empathy, and social experiments in online communities; it can function as a didactic tool for understanding perspective-taking and social interaction.

Reception and ethics: proponents view pretendohen as a productive form of collaborative storytelling and identity exploration, while critics warn of deception, emotional labor, and potential impacts on personal relationships. Ethical practice emphasizes consent, clear boundaries, opt-out options, and participant safety.