The Question I’ll Never Ask You
August 13, 2010 4 Comments
“Will you be my virtual friend?”
My kids accuse me of having a host of virtual friends. Wrong, kiddos.
I have a network of very real people – friends, acquaintances, colleagues, clients – some of whom I just haven’t met face-to-face yet.
They’re no less real than anyone else. The fact the we “pre-met” and communicate via virtual platforms doesn’t change that.
By all means, let’s connect. But there’s no virtual person in the relationship. Perhaps we should stop talking about “real-life” and “on-line” friends and just be…friends.
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I was just having this discussion with some people last week. I agree with you. What happens online IS real life. As real as a phone conversation, certainly, and we don’t separate the phone from our “real” lives.
I think in a few years, we’ll look back on the false separation between online and “real,” and see it as quaint.
With you 200% on this one, Steve. Speaking from personal experience as well as my training as a sociologist, I see no difference between what goes on between/among people IRL and in virtual community. Okay, maybe one difference: stuff happens faster in virtual environments. Otherwise, same developmental stages in relationships and groups; same sequence. Fascinating.
Hi friend!
I would love to meet you in person someday…but whether or not that ever happens remains to be seen. Until then, you do a great job “just keepin’ it real!”
Most of the people I meet in person share my proximity, and that’s about it. I share so much more with my online friends that there’s really no comparison. You “are” my friends.