social
A teacher of mine doesn’t think that any interaction on the internet is real socialisation, that people we meet online are just faces in front of screens, and not friends. That’s cool for her, I don’t mind that she thinks that, but I have to say that I disagree entirely. I can’t ever say that the internet is not about socialisation - I understand my teacher’s perspective though, everyone she knows, she probably met in a face to face situation. The internet hasn’t played a role in her life the way it has in mine.
Much of the allure of the internet lies in being able to meet all kinds of people. I’ve been able to meet so many amazing (and not-so-awesome) people because of the internet. You can’t say that I don’t socialise with people when 80% of what I do online involves me constantly communicating with, emailing, spazzing out with and just generally talking to people. It’s not all just “Oh, hey, how are you?” “Oh. I’m bored. You?” “Yeah. Life sucks.” (Which is the way she thinks people interact online). We have things to discuss, issues to debate over, shiny things to oooh and ahhh about. It just so happens that since we cant be with each other in a physical sense, we let our fingers do the talking.
In my experience, there eventually ends up being very little difference between my favourite people online and my best friends offline - All are awesome, all are funny and considerate and make me feel infinitely better. I treat them all the same and think of them all very fondly. I think being able to have friends online is advantageous all around. I feel like I have a bigger net of support around me, comprised not only of school friends, best friends and family, but people that I respect and love online - That in itself is so comforting and reassuring.