It leaves little to be said in that I spend a fair share of my day on the internet. My email for work is constantly receiving new messages; my personal email receives its fair share; and I'm involved with a handful of internet groups.
These internet groups have brought many incredible people into my life. People that I'm very grateful for and that have seen me through some of the best and some of the worst times of my life. Some of the people I talk to the most on a daily basis are those that I've never spent time with face to face. That doesn't affect our relationships at all.
But internet friendships/relationships can have many dangers as well. It's obvious on this blog that I'm somewhat careful to maintain some anonymity. You can't google my name (or my husband's or daughter's) and have it link to this site. It's more for personal protection than anything else. There are some weird people on the internet and I've had acquaintances have really bad things happen to them because of information they had online. I don't want some weird person to figure out who I am and then show up at my doorstep. It's possible that if someone dug hard enough and long enough they might figure out who/where I am.
I've tried my hardest to express my sincerity towards others I've met online. I want people I make contact with to know that I'm genuine and that I'm not trying to cause drama in their lives. My sole reason for being involved in these internet groups is to find women who understand the different facets of my life. I want girls to talk to that understand what I'm going through and what I'm dealing with.
Unfortunately there have been cases lately where people are withdrawing. I want to maintain friendships with these people but I understand their skepticism. I don't want to appear pushy or desperate (perhaps this post itself is polar opposite of that); I just want to maintain friendships.
I'm finding though that maintaining friendships through a computer screen and modem appears to be much more difficult than just typing words and sending them. Although technology provides so many great aspects to our lives, it obviously has as many disadvantages.
These internet groups have brought many incredible people into my life. People that I'm very grateful for and that have seen me through some of the best and some of the worst times of my life. Some of the people I talk to the most on a daily basis are those that I've never spent time with face to face. That doesn't affect our relationships at all.
But internet friendships/relationships can have many dangers as well. It's obvious on this blog that I'm somewhat careful to maintain some anonymity. You can't google my name (or my husband's or daughter's) and have it link to this site. It's more for personal protection than anything else. There are some weird people on the internet and I've had acquaintances have really bad things happen to them because of information they had online. I don't want some weird person to figure out who I am and then show up at my doorstep. It's possible that if someone dug hard enough and long enough they might figure out who/where I am.
I've tried my hardest to express my sincerity towards others I've met online. I want people I make contact with to know that I'm genuine and that I'm not trying to cause drama in their lives. My sole reason for being involved in these internet groups is to find women who understand the different facets of my life. I want girls to talk to that understand what I'm going through and what I'm dealing with.
Unfortunately there have been cases lately where people are withdrawing. I want to maintain friendships with these people but I understand their skepticism. I don't want to appear pushy or desperate (perhaps this post itself is polar opposite of that); I just want to maintain friendships.
I'm finding though that maintaining friendships through a computer screen and modem appears to be much more difficult than just typing words and sending them. Although technology provides so many great aspects to our lives, it obviously has as many disadvantages.
3 comments:
There are many people who I've "met" through blogging that I honestly say I can love, but I'm realistic that virtual friendships have so many drawbacks: no body language, voice inflections, common aquaintances to tell you when something is going on...
I'm sorry that you feel alienated on some level, but please remember that risking your happiness with the people you love in your home is just not worth the angst that obviously someone else is not feeling.
I can so relate to your commments... Then again, I've got the opposite issue - someone wants to maintain a relationship with me and I want to run far, far away.
Thanks for linking to my blog over there... :) Merry Christmas to you!
Totally know what you mean. If it were up to my hubby we wouldn't even have internet. He hates it that I blog, he hates it that I have a Facebook & MySpace pages. He thinks there is just weirdos out there & no real people, nice people. Most of the moms I met are from a local internet group, but he still thinks I'm putting myself out there for the weirdos, lol.
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