If you've been participating in online communities for any length of time, you've surely heard of at least one or two so far. Those Online Legends that harken back to Usenet days or even the BBS days. Maybe they're known for their 24 hour typing marathons. Or their jokes that could make anyone howl out loud with laughter. Or their arcane knowledge of obscure emoticons.

How can you become legendary online? Here are some advanced tips to creating a memorable online persona that will go down in the online history books. (Surely there's someone out there chronicling all the funny tales happening on forums around the planet. Right? A mad monk of some sort blogging it all down?

In any case, here are the tips to help you finish your quest to legendary status.

Be Memorable

One way to become a legend is to act legendary. This is easier said then done. It's not like you can run into a burning thread and save people ... Hmmm. Or can you?

Be Friendly

You don't want to cross the line and become fake friendly, but being nice online goes a long way in you being remembered. There are a lot of angry and stupid people online. If you separate yourself from that crowd by being friendly, you're going to stand out and stick in people's minds (and not in a weird, scifi B-Movie way...)

Be Sincere

Tell it like it is. Say what you mean and mean what you say.  The more sincere you are online, the more seriously people are going to take you. The more seriously people take you, the more they're apt to remember you and tell other people about you.

Be Unique

Don't follow the herd. Ignore the herd. Do your own thing. Of course there are limits to this. You don't want to do things just for the sake of doing things. (Surreal Life tv show, anyone?) Legends online are remembered because they're different and eccentric. Just don't slip over the line to weird and creepy. It's hard to climb out of that quicksand.

Be Daring

You want to treat your time online as if it were time in the "real world," but on the other hand, online you have the ability to be a little more daring that you might be in real life.  Maybe you're shy in real life but online you find yourself able to start up a conversation with complete (and half) strangers. Legends take risks.

Be Yourself

If all the above fails, you might try just being yourself online. Who knows - with words and pictures you might come across a lot better than you ever imagined. Beneath your calm, cool geek like exterior is an Internet Legend ready to be talked about for years to come for daring exploits and witty banter online.

In fact, some to think of it, this might be the best advice I can give.  Don't try to be someone you're not online. If you want to become a legendary friend, it's best to be honest and be yourself.