friends?
I think about this all the time. Sometimes I feel like I’d have stronger relationships with the friends that I see on a routine basis if they were all as present online as these other friends are. These face-to-face friends would know more details about my everyday goings-on, and I’d understand more about their perspectives, as well. I’d know they were reading the same articles, reviews, and blogs that fascinate, or sometimes anger, me. We’d feel more comfortable expressing our opinions to each other and probably wind up attending more social gatherings together. It makes sense that we’d have deeper, more thoughtful conversations (in person and online) as a result. Perhaps I’m just wishing that I knew all my online friends in person. But then, what would happen to the people I hang out with right now? Would my friendships with them fade away? Man, this is getting way more complicated than it needs to be. =/
I remember I found this really moving when I read it back in the spring… maybe because I’ve had similar thoughts.
Anyway, at the time I reblogged it, but only as a saved draft. I’ve been holding on to it, and I guess now it feels appropriate to post.
I was thinking today about social networking. I have many people that I have a “friendship” with purely on the internet. I read their blogs, their tweets, and listen to their blips. They read and listen to mine. We comment on each other’s posts, leave kind messages, ask how each other is doing, etc. Sometimes I feel like I really know who these people are. Many of them I feel like if we actually hung out in real life, we’d be best buds. It’s a weird relationship. I don’t REALLY know these people. They don’t really know me. I will probably never meet any of them personally. Many of them live thousands of miles away. And yet I do think about them. I wonder what they’re up to. I wonder if they ever think about me. Or if years from now they will remember me. If my computer busted tomorrow and I had no internet access from now on, would they wonder where I went? Is this all a waste of time? Hmm…..
