You are my friend
That makes you very real to me :)
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I think I owe this article to the few people I have come across online that have touched my life in some way, and I consider them to be very special people. There aren't many of them, a select few people, that I consider to be friends, and in no way any different from the friends I have in the real world. Well that's a lie, of course they are different, the internet is a different situation than the friends you meet at work or at the pub, it is a different situation completely. Lets compare it to the people you meet at work for example, these are people that you spend a great deal of time with. You go to work for what, eight hours a day, these people see you when you've got a hangover, when you've had a great day, had a bad day, and some become friends, and some remain colleagues, how do we decide who is worthy of our friendship? These people usually take a while to really befriend, even though we spend a great deal of time with them, they don't know the real us. They see the professional that comes to work, and to build a friendship with them usually takes time. These are better friends than the ones that are made on the internet though?
The internets biggest problem is the trust factor, because you don't see the person you are talking to, because you don't always hear their voice, you could be in theory talking to anyone. Sure they can provide pictures for you, but they could be easily faked. So how do you know you can trust this person? You don't. You don't know for sure they are who they say they are, that is a risk you take. We are adults though, we aren't children. For children the internet is a far more dangerous playground to play in. They are easily lead, people come on here to get at them, and for this we should be careful, children should be told not to trust people, to be careful, of course they should, we all know the stories of children meeting people off here, and going missing and other awful stuff. The key is, we are adults. We are capable of making our own decisions, making our own judgements, of course we still have to be careful, we could be talking to some psychotic killer, that if we ever agree to meet, could chop us up into tiny pieces and feed us to their cat in the basement or something like that.
Lets be realistic though, how do we know our work colleague that invites us for a drink after work isn't a psychotic killer? Because we can see their face? Well of course, we can tell what a person is like just by seeing their faces. Whatever situation we are in, we have to be careful, and only trust people to an extent, till we at least know them a little better. Our offline friends know us better? I'm sure in alot of cases that is the case, but I know that a lot of my offline friends would be surprised at the things I wrote on my blog for example. They see sides to me that maybe I don't show on here, but I show sides of me on here that they don't see, it works both way. Our society in here is mostly judged by face value, it's different on here, we are judged as the people we are. Now I know people can create different lives for themselves, pretend to be rich and gorgeous, but their personality and the person they are still comes through. Your personality is all you have on here. That is so important, that we judge someone for the person they are, rather than the way they look or their status in society. We get to see peoples deepest thoughts on here, their fears, hopes and dreams. They don't hold back, they can be totally honest with less fear of ridicule from those that live hundreds of miles away. To see the deepest parts of someones personality, and to get to know them on that level before anything else, for me is priceless.
Which gets me onto the people you meet online. You get to meet people you would probably never ever come across otherwise. people from thousands of miles away that you otherwise would never have the pleasure of talking to. How special is that. That someone who is eating breakfast while you're eating dinner is part of your life. The internet is connecting thousands of people everyday. I've met some very special people, that I never would have. People that are now a huge part of my life, people I care alot about, people who are very special, people who are my friends, and though I met them on the internet, so what? To me that makes them more special. Yes be careful, don't fully trust, but it's no different to people you meet in the real world. You have the opportuinty here, now, to connect with some fabulous people, don't waste it.
The internets biggest problem is the trust factor, because you don't see the person you are talking to, because you don't always hear their voice, you could be in theory talking to anyone. Sure they can provide pictures for you, but they could be easily faked. So how do you know you can trust this person? You don't. You don't know for sure they are who they say they are, that is a risk you take. We are adults though, we aren't children. For children the internet is a far more dangerous playground to play in. They are easily lead, people come on here to get at them, and for this we should be careful, children should be told not to trust people, to be careful, of course they should, we all know the stories of children meeting people off here, and going missing and other awful stuff. The key is, we are adults. We are capable of making our own decisions, making our own judgements, of course we still have to be careful, we could be talking to some psychotic killer, that if we ever agree to meet, could chop us up into tiny pieces and feed us to their cat in the basement or something like that.
Lets be realistic though, how do we know our work colleague that invites us for a drink after work isn't a psychotic killer? Because we can see their face? Well of course, we can tell what a person is like just by seeing their faces. Whatever situation we are in, we have to be careful, and only trust people to an extent, till we at least know them a little better. Our offline friends know us better? I'm sure in alot of cases that is the case, but I know that a lot of my offline friends would be surprised at the things I wrote on my blog for example. They see sides to me that maybe I don't show on here, but I show sides of me on here that they don't see, it works both way. Our society in here is mostly judged by face value, it's different on here, we are judged as the people we are. Now I know people can create different lives for themselves, pretend to be rich and gorgeous, but their personality and the person they are still comes through. Your personality is all you have on here. That is so important, that we judge someone for the person they are, rather than the way they look or their status in society. We get to see peoples deepest thoughts on here, their fears, hopes and dreams. They don't hold back, they can be totally honest with less fear of ridicule from those that live hundreds of miles away. To see the deepest parts of someones personality, and to get to know them on that level before anything else, for me is priceless.
Which gets me onto the people you meet online. You get to meet people you would probably never ever come across otherwise. people from thousands of miles away that you otherwise would never have the pleasure of talking to. How special is that. That someone who is eating breakfast while you're eating dinner is part of your life. The internet is connecting thousands of people everyday. I've met some very special people, that I never would have. People that are now a huge part of my life, people I care alot about, people who are very special, people who are my friends, and though I met them on the internet, so what? To me that makes them more special. Yes be careful, don't fully trust, but it's no different to people you meet in the real world. You have the opportuinty here, now, to connect with some fabulous people, don't waste it.
and keep writing!!
...everything takes you agesss sweety! I was just about to harrass you about leaving a message! Since you partly gave me the inspiration for this blog!