I know that I am very susceptible to (as are many others (I would think)) a sort of faux intimacy that happens through email/chat/blog and any other form of electronic communication. It seems that in our "technology age" we communicate a good bit through electronic means which cut out body language, inflection and other signals of what we mean by what we're saying. It also seems that we can feel a sense of knowing a person; a sense of depth to a relationship that doesn't exist. Face to face contact or at least verbal (phone) contact, I feel is something that is crucial to true relationship. I guess it doesn't have to be f to f or verbal but it's so much easier and in depth there's more give and take. I think it's also a problem of living in a society where we want everything 5 minutes ago. Give and take can happen through email but it's much more drawn out.
Posted by slaw at September 15, 2003 08:39 PM | TrackBackYe speaketh truth oh Might 'Slaw. I dont' think blogging or any computer-mediated-communication is good for building new relationships or community, but it's good for maintaining or bolstering pre-existing ones, like another point of contact between people already in a relationship.
Posted by: JosiahQ at September 16, 2003 08:51 AMI think the internet can be good as a starting point for new connections or friendships... you can discuss anything on a blog, or in email, or over AIM, with someone of common interests that you might not have met otherwise. The downside is that it still falls short of a real face to face conversation in a coffee shop. You can't really "bear one another's burdens" electronically, can you?
Posted by: John at September 16, 2003 04:12 PMStrange I was just thinking of this the other day. There's no tangible, physical proof that internet relationships exist in the real world. When you get sick, the net friends don't come make you soup. They don't even know what's up if you're offline for a few days. You could die, and they'd never know! That said, I would be much more bored throughout the day without them. Those friendships serve a purpose, but they can't replace the real physical interraction you have in real life.
Posted by: Shannon at September 16, 2003 05:28 PM