No. Really, it isn't. Not if online is where most of my social life takes place, where I have most of my fun. Not if this is where I've made real friendships. A fairly solid case could be made for at least *some* parts of my online life actually being more important than several parts of my offline life - because if the people we like/love and the things we enjoy doing don't matter as much as the thing we call 'Real Life' (workunishoppingcleaningdoingthedishespayingtherentandthephonebill), there is something very severely out of whack.
People online are real people with real feelings. Some of those feelings are tied to me, because I have engaged in the kind of contact with people that will engender feelings and expectations of friendship. (This is reciprocal, of course.) These people, and the obligations of friendship I have towards them, need to be treated as real - just as real as 'Real Life'. They *are* a part of my Real Life.
Even so, though, sometimes one part of life becomes so overwhelming that it leaves no space for anything else besides it for a while. But this does not mean that the things and people that get crowded out are less important in the final accounting.
(Heh. Sorry. Pet peeve. Getting off my soapbox now, and back to work.)
naw, don't apologize. I actually do agree with you, depending on the day. Sometimes I just feel I'm spending too much time on LJ and have a "RL needs to be more Real" attack.
No. Really, it isn't. Not if online is where most of my social life takes place, where I have most of my fun. Not if this is where I've made real friendships. A fairly solid case could be made for at least *some* parts of my online life actually being more important than several parts of my offline life - because if the people we like/love and the things we enjoy doing don't matter as much as the thing we call 'Real Life' (workunishoppingcleaningdoingthedishespayingtherentandthephonebill), there is something very severely out of whack.
People online are real people with real feelings. Some of those feelings are tied to me, because I have engaged in the kind of contact with people that will engender feelings and expectations of friendship. (This is reciprocal, of course.) These people, and the obligations of friendship I have towards them, need to be treated as real - just as real as 'Real Life'. They *are* a part of my Real Life.
Even so, though, sometimes one part of life becomes so overwhelming that it leaves no space for anything else besides it for a while. But this does not mean that the things and people that get crowded out are less important in the final accounting.
(Heh. Sorry. Pet peeve. Getting off my soapbox now, and back to work.)
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment