Impersonal Electronic Connections

I.E.C~

Email, Internet forums, Instant messaging,Online Gaming,Online Shopping, Internet dating, Ebay, Online Classifieds etc etc etc etc etc ..the list goes on. Where we have come as a race is pretty amazing in terms of communication within the structures of everyday life. It still boggles my mind that I can write a letter and in seconds (unless the Internet is asleep) it is in whomever mailbox waiting to be digested. At any rate the technology is an awesome tool to have at our disposal.

The problem that we have is the lack of personal interaction and this causes the brain to forget the human being on the other end of the communication. People are cool and people suck severely at times. The fact is that we are all different and we won''t always like each other. What we should be able to do is to respect each other.

All too often on Internet message boards for instance people post things that they wouldn't normally say face to face with people and these lead to what Sully coined "GIF" Gay internet fighting. I've often found that those people that could easily have nasty interaction with me on a message board acted much different in person.

So if we can respect each other face to face why is it so hard to apply those same principles to online interactions? In some sense it becomes similar to all the violence on the television and how we have become desensitized to some forms of violence and gore. I think interpersonal relationship over the Internet can end up being much the same way.

It is easy to tell someone to fuck off... sit in a bar and buy them a drink and listen to their life experiences and you may learn more than you did behind the pc ..I've been guilty at times of the same behaviour and caught myself in the process. I'm no angel and I never profess to be...I'm a flawed human being just as anyone else.. I've learned to see more value in people than just an Internet post over the last year...

Have a difference of opinion? Before you hit the enter button and send that email or post on a board let it sit for a while and when ya cool off read it again. Ask yourself if it is really worth ruining your day or someone else's ...or the best solution is too pick up the phone and talk ..you might find out that it was misinterpreted or it is just harder to act like an ass when it becomes personal and you see there are actually human beings there instead of just text ..

At any rate maybe someday I.E.C will be a Wikipedia definition .. ROTF!

~K~