Blurry
Things are getting blurry, and no matter where I look, it’s still fuzzy. It’s like I need life glasses, just so I can see things properly and so I don’t have to worry about tripping over, and read the blackboards clearly. But then, when you give me a pair of glasses, everything is so frighteningly and horribly clear, that I don’t want them anymore.
It’s a lose-lose situation when I want to win.
People are giving me reasons to doubt what I do online. Lines between “real life”, and “online life” are becoming blurred as well. Which one is the real world? There are people behind these computers, but there are people sitting opposite me at the table. I know people type on these keyboards, but I see people pushing piano keys. Aren’t these people in front of these computer screens real? Are they any less real than the people I eat lunch with everyday? Is blogging a legitimate way to inform people I know offline about my life? Is myspace a way to really keep in touch with people? Is the internet a replacent for talking to people face to face? Can you talk about people you know online to people you know offline? Can you talk about things you do online to people you know offline?
Which one is the real world, and do I separate them from each other? Or do I merge them together to create something where talking about emails and websites are as common as discussing your lunch and homework?
For something that is meant to be so innovative and informative, it sure is giving me a lot of grief.
# Jake, 2 years ago.
good blog :)
theres no such thing as real and not real in my eyes everythings cool.
but hey i’m being refered to the councillor lol so why would you listen to me
love ya more then the star
Jake
# Helen, 2 years ago.
*Hyperventilates* if you come up with answers, please tell me! I think it’s awful that everybody blogs and doesn’t talk about things nearly as much anymore. Then again, for people like me, I probably wouldn’t get to hear about your day otherwise, so it’s not a replacement for anything. And I like reading these here writings of yours, they make my noggin think.
What there needs to be is an Almighty Internet Relations Rulebook. An AIRR. And then instead of this, my comment would be “Consult the AIRR, Tracey” and you would be able to do so.
Good grief.
# Chans, 2 years ago.
As long as you spend more time with your friends, or in your surroundings (meaning social life…) you don’t have to worry about spending to much time at the computer.
There are people who feel their social life only exists online, those people are going too far and have crossed a line. To me the Internet is a way to broaden your horizon and ‘meet’ people you would normally never meet. They can become great friends and that’s when can feel comfortable talking about offline things with online friends.
Just don’t forget to leave that computer alone sometimes and go out to smell the roses :D
# Gumby, 2 years ago.
They are both real Trace. You can’t separate them. Its just… the people you see every day, you can’t not tell them stuff that you put online because those people usually don’t see it, and its confusing when they find out and they realise that you’ve told keyboard people about stuff when you haven’t even mentioned it to others. You know that we “are also quite fond of you” and we just want to know about you, and the stuff that is important to you. Its just weird when someone sees you everyday, and you find out stuff about them via someone else, because your best friend put stuff on the web but they never said anything to you. Please understand that when this happens its just a bit weird, because we want our best friend to tell us stuff about what they are doing, what is happening and changing with them and every single little tiny thing, however insignificant it is. If its important to you, its important to us. You know that sometimes we’ll laugh at it, like you laugh at certain things (the browline, but Sushi does too, and we laugh at Sushi, and we all laugh both with and at each other) but thats what happens, it doesn’t mean we take it any less seriously or think any differently of you. Just remember that we care deeply, and we never intend to do any harm, but sometimes things come out wrong or we say stuff wrong, but we will still always be there (unless we die) for you to “lean on.”
I am sorry. We are sorry. We are quite fond of you, and we hope you are still quite fond of us.
# Boris, 2 years ago.
Glasses. I’m trying to break this stupid habit of wiping my glasses every five seconds. It’s like I’m… glasses paranoid or something. At least I like how I look in them.
And, well, to tell you the truth the physical world has always been considered as the ‘real’ one, to me. The internet is just an extension of our physical lives– Instant messaging, for example, is just the equivalent of talking on the phone. People you talk to over the phone aren’t part of some surreal realm that has no links to the world you live in, it’s just a method of communication.
Communication. That’s all that’s really behind the internet. (Nobody give me “No, the internet is more made up of source code and-” Nooo… off the rails) The thing that (to me) makes the most difference between, say, talking on the phone and the internet is that the latter generally has no sense of appointment. With a phone, you either tell somebody “Call you at seven,” or you call someone and you engage together when you begin talking.
The internet’s made up so you can just hop on, at any time, and there it will be for you. When you log in to Messenger, some people will be online, some won’t be. You obviously can’t bend the fabric of the universe to talk to those offline, so the people who are online are the ones you’ll communicate with. If there’s something that you say to everyone online, then everyone who was offline will not have any idea of it. But only because they aren’t online. I’m trying to stress this– the lack of appointment…ness is what creates this unavoidable sense of “sometimes, sometimes not.”
And you had to be evil and mention MySpace… I suppose it’s the same concept. If there’s something there that somebody said, and you’re not ‘there’, then you’re not there. I’m being Detective Obvious here, but I’m just emphasising things, which is why they made it the <em> tag in the first place anyway. Gumby, I only even know things because [a] - I stalk every corner of people’s MySpace accounts, and [b] - I’m Boris, I’m massive awesome, and I’m Boris, therefore I am Master of everything and know everything about everything-everything.
So no, the internet is not a replacement for the world. It never will be despite the technologies and services the internet has given birth to today. It is, merely an extension.
# Jordie, 2 years ago.
Oh Jesus please us, poor ol’ Trace is having an existential crisis. *hugs*
The Internet is neither “real” or “not real”, though if it had to be one, it would probably be closer to reality than not, since it is an extension of what we define as the “real world”. It’s a very philosophical sort of thing. Maybe you’re one of those technophobes that believes machines will eventually best humanity, a la The Terminator or The Matrix. Or maybe you’re more for the Star Trek-esque outlook, where technology advances peacefully and space exploration becomes an integral factor in humanity’s advancement. *shrug* Don’t stress!
# Rafia, 2 years ago.
I think the internet is as a real as your offline life is. Sure, you may never truly know who the person behind that computer is, but you can get to know them somewhat. I think the internet is wonderful for that, connecting you to the world. It’s just a different medium than actual face-to-face connection.
I try not to see it as offline life, online life anymore. But I guess, I kinda do have a separate life with each. Both are real to me, though. It’s just that different sides of my personality shine (?) through, and I’m fine with that. Blogging has helped me with gaining a better understanding of who I am.
I’m babbling, and I’m not sure I even know what I’m talking about. To prevent from saying anything more nonsensical, I will stop now. I always find myself in similar fixes with no real answers… and they give me headaches!
Nice blog, btw!
# Amber, 2 years ago.
I love my offline friends dearly and to me they are very much real; they are there with me all the time, through the good times and the bad… they have to use actions as well as words to show that they are there for me and care. They have to spend 6 hours a day with me; not just drop me a line by email, MSN, or my blog. Which is so very different.
And yet, I love my online friends in a different way. Not just situations have brought us together but it’s because we find each other amusing, have the same interests or want to talk… I think it’s more of a choice when you talk to someone online not just because that’s how it happened; so when people decide to email me or talk to me on MSN I love it. I can talk to them about politics and Harry Potter - things that my friends close their ears to if I even suggest mentioning it!
I value both equally… but it IS awkward when I start talking to my offline friends about my online friends. They think I’m weird. And you can see, I’m a rambler… Damn.
# Alex, 2 years ago.
Everything I want to write is what Georgia said. Although, if you get hit by a car, your online friends can’t exactly support you. Unless they use webcam…
Worship Gumby, for she is all knowing. Whoo!
Boating.
# CJ, 2 years ago.
Bwah, you are right. It is very complicated. Some people only do certain things online while they think other things online are completely ridiculous, yet they’re all sort of similar. Some people don’t have any kind of boundaries what so ever.
I’ve talked about people I know online to people offline, but only when the people online I knew were especially close to me (talking every day for a couple of years). My friend is “dating online,” which is a little weird to me but she doesn’t think so. From that sense I do personally tend to call online people not necessarily “the real world.” Depending on who the person really is, which we’ll never know until you meet, they can be totally different online & offline. Some people are the same online/off. It’s hard to tell, most of the time you can’t. That’s one thing I believe that makes people refer to it as the “non real world”. In real life we don’t have to look at a 35 year old man and be mistaken that its a 17 year old girl like me. Life seems trickier online.
# Bryce, 1 year, 12 months ago.
Interesting post. Indeed, you can be walking down the street with your mother, yet recieve an e-mail on your BlackBerry from a girl in Romania who doesn’t know you. You could be a 22 year old DD-cup from Brazil if you wanted to.
PS: You’re on my Google Reader now - feel proud :D