I’m waiting for the day when, if you tell someone ‘I’m from the internet’, instead of laughing they just ask ‘oh, what part?’
I met a fellow blogger yesterday. It no longer feels weird to me to meet someone who I have been talking to online, “sight unseen”, for a long time, in real-life 3D.
The Internet is magical in this regard.
Velva from Tomatoes On The Vine and I saw each other in real life, flesh and blood (thank goodness it was all flesh and no blood), for the first time. It did not occur to me how amazing it was that there was no awkward moment at all. It certainly helped a lot that both Velva and her husband are absolutely lovely and warm and easygoing. As soon as we found each other outside the restaurant (no red rose necessary) and gave each other a big giant hug, without a beat, we launched into a fabulous night of great food and even greater conversations as if we have known each other for a long time.
And we have indeed. I guess that is the point.
When we are participating in the blogging community, and its extension on Facebook and Twitter, what I like to call “the greatest social experiment that nobody knows they are in”, we inevitably suspend our suspicion, or rather, we give in to our natural tendency as human beings to trust each other. Although a healthy dose of wariness towards strangers must have helped guarantee the survival of the human race, I believe that the basic trust in people’s goodness must have played just as significant a role. The virtual social network is an interesting arena for us to exercise that push and pull, and if you are lucky, you found yourself getting pulled into the inner circles of some absolutely fabulous people. When that happens, it feels so natural, you don’t even hear the bang when your virtual world and your real life collide.
It is strange how it is not strange at all.
I love what xkcd said: "I'm waiting for the day when, if you tell someone 'I'm from the internet', instead of laughing they just ask 'oh, what part?'"
