This is an old topic for me and hearkens my earlier years. It seems that we as a global society have lowered the threshold for what defines a "friend" and we seem ever more afraid of losing these friends. This is a problem that's always held a slight annoyance to me because what this means is there are a lot of instances in which somebody will label somebody a friend without really knowing the person.
What I see happening more and more is that the word "friend" is rubbing the emotional attachment intrinsic to it off onto people who you've merely shared contact details with. I'd love to live in a world in which simply sharing contact details with somebody makes them not want to harm you, but let's get real, shall we?
Just because somebody says they're your friend or just because a bit of software crams them into the same group as friends shouldn't be a reason to become too attached. Things happen, life happens. The internet may be the entire world to some people, but to other people's worlds the internet is just a toy.
For every person out there who's only contact with other intellectuals, you know who you are basement geeks, there's at least two people who only get on to have fun and to harass anybody who has a conflicting viewpoint. This was made painfully obvious to me when in the span of one day I had three of these fairweather friends all admit to causing unrest deliberately and for the sole purpose of annoying, stressing, and aggravating others.
This is the internet after all. Despite the fact that nearly all those names on the screen are real people with real feelings, the internet itself isn't something that can stab you or give you a wedgie. The internet is only as serious as you let it be. Remember that. For every one truly nice and honorable person you meet, you're gonna run into a dozen who see it as the most intricate and fun computer game ever made. These people who just see the internet as a game are going to treat you just like any NPC they encounter and not give a damn about how you feel, so don't ever give them that satisfaction.
When somebody online hurts you it may be painful, when an online friend leaves you it feels like a part of your soul has left, but there are a hell of a lot more people out there, and there's always new people to meet. Jerks are gonna be jerks and just because a person is nice in real life doesn't mean their internet persona isn't douchebag incarnate. Life's gonna bend you over and give it to you hard so long as you take things like them seriously. Learn to laugh when somebody tries to hurt you, learn to let go when friends have to part ways or move on.
Nothing you can say will hurt that annoying person like they hurt you. Most likely rage will only entertain them, and nothing you can do will make a lost internet friend come back any sooner. Stressing over either will only lead to tears. So buck up, move on, and try to crack a smile once in a while, because we're all just hairless apes on a spinning rock. And no matter how you live your life, we all have to die some time. So spend less time worrying and more time enjoying yourself. To do anything else devaluates those brief moments we call a human life.
What I see happening more and more is that the word "friend" is rubbing the emotional attachment intrinsic to it off onto people who you've merely shared contact details with. I'd love to live in a world in which simply sharing contact details with somebody makes them not want to harm you, but let's get real, shall we?
Just because somebody says they're your friend or just because a bit of software crams them into the same group as friends shouldn't be a reason to become too attached. Things happen, life happens. The internet may be the entire world to some people, but to other people's worlds the internet is just a toy.
For every person out there who's only contact with other intellectuals, you know who you are basement geeks, there's at least two people who only get on to have fun and to harass anybody who has a conflicting viewpoint. This was made painfully obvious to me when in the span of one day I had three of these fairweather friends all admit to causing unrest deliberately and for the sole purpose of annoying, stressing, and aggravating others.
This is the internet after all. Despite the fact that nearly all those names on the screen are real people with real feelings, the internet itself isn't something that can stab you or give you a wedgie. The internet is only as serious as you let it be. Remember that. For every one truly nice and honorable person you meet, you're gonna run into a dozen who see it as the most intricate and fun computer game ever made. These people who just see the internet as a game are going to treat you just like any NPC they encounter and not give a damn about how you feel, so don't ever give them that satisfaction.
When somebody online hurts you it may be painful, when an online friend leaves you it feels like a part of your soul has left, but there are a hell of a lot more people out there, and there's always new people to meet. Jerks are gonna be jerks and just because a person is nice in real life doesn't mean their internet persona isn't douchebag incarnate. Life's gonna bend you over and give it to you hard so long as you take things like them seriously. Learn to laugh when somebody tries to hurt you, learn to let go when friends have to part ways or move on.
Nothing you can say will hurt that annoying person like they hurt you. Most likely rage will only entertain them, and nothing you can do will make a lost internet friend come back any sooner. Stressing over either will only lead to tears. So buck up, move on, and try to crack a smile once in a while, because we're all just hairless apes on a spinning rock. And no matter how you live your life, we all have to die some time. So spend less time worrying and more time enjoying yourself. To do anything else devaluates those brief moments we call a human life.
The veil of anonymity the internet provides can indeed be a bit of a double-edged sword. You get to be as private as you want, you can admit things under your faceless visage to random strangers you'd rather anyone who would recognize you wouldn't know, and yet it can also make you vulnerable to others who use their anonymity for more devious purposes. But then, that's life.
ReplyDelete