Last week I met a guy. I didn’t realize it until I met him face to face that I had never actually met him. He’s a business contact, and we’ve communicated solely via e-mail for more than a year. I trust him with charges to my organization, having (before last week) never met him or even spoke with him on the phone.
The Internet is an interesting thing. It allows us to communicate with people and build a connection, without ever meeting them. I have become acquainted with many people through blogging who I feel connected to, and would consider friends, even though I’ve never met them, and probably never will.
Gone are the times when we never used our real name online. Now, the standard e-mail address is firstname.lastname@gmail.com. As time has gone on since the internet has become available to more people, we have become more and more comfortable with the internet, and therefore more and more comfortable with communicating with, and trusting people over the internet. Funny how things change.
Last night I listened to an old (1997) broadcast of This American Life episode about the internet. It was really interesting to see how 1997 internet compared to today's internet-but one thing that never changed was the relationships that form. Kind of inspiring actually.
ReplyDeleteamazing huh?
ReplyDeleteive met soo many kewl ppl over the internet and blogging too. kinda wanna be like, "hey gimme your address. ill google map it and well ill see ya in a couple weeks" hahah
@SilverNeurotic - Yea, I think the potential for meaningful relationships has always been there, it is just more people are comfortable with being open to that now.
ReplyDelete@Barloga - lol. I've met two people in person that I initially met online.
We still have to beware of criminal activity over the internet. Although, I know what you're saying about meeting cool people.
ReplyDeleteI find that it always feels both strange and awesome when you meet internet friends in person.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's ever going to feel like a normal thing for me, like, "Oh, it's just another one of my friends"… though I suppose one day it will for some people.
By that, I mean that even though I do consider my internet friends my friends whether or not I've met them in person (and some of them closer friends than people I've always known in real life)… They're always "internet friends" first. I find that I can't break out of that mindset.