I can totally relate that to myself, except the abusing of smiles. Back in the other forums I've joined, I acted a bit immature and I was trying to seek attention (even today, I have this tendency to do that, but I have more control now... well, yeah).
More than that, I started speaking in third-person, such as "Student thinks that there's something wrong with it" yet I'm the one saying that. The only time did I realize that I was being weird was after I became a moderator in that forum. Ah, such unusual memories I had. :D