ok, i have limited time, but i'm in a much better mood, so let's try this again shall we?
from Feb 5th:
so i've been thinking a lot lately about how awkward and slightly creepy it is to have friends online. don't get me wrong, i love you guys. but, see, that's the problem. it's kind of creepy that i love you guys.
let's look at the facts. with the exception of one person, i have never actually met any of the people i talk to online. i have a few people's addresses, but no one's phone numbers. i know what all of you look like, sound like, and quite a few of your favorite things. i know your aspirations and even a few of your fears. i also happen to talk to most of you at least once a day. even if only briefly via twitter. and if i don't talk to you, i at least get an update via twitter/facebook/youtube/your blog.
ps. i wish the content of my blogs matched the quality of most of my titles. :/
the conclusion: once again, i point to how i wrote the last line first. most times i find i write better when i'm leading up to a conclusion. and i really do wish the content of my blogs matched the quality of my titles. ah well!
so yeah. by the average non-computer nerd standard, we don't know each other. at all. how much can you know about someone if you only ever met them over the computer.
i, NOT being the average non-computer nerd, say that you can know A LOT! especially when the lot of you are on YouTube. we see each other. which makes a HUGE difference. i probably wouldn't give my ... no, i'll correct myself: i WOULD NEVER give my address to someone i've never seen. and i think i've actually gotten stricter about that since i've become a "youtuber." before i thought talking to people via video was just an alternative to text. now i know that talking to people via video is a whole different experience!
there are things about personality and inflection and attitude that you just can't see in text. and there's something unique about seeing the same person in reality that you've already met on your screen. meeting someone you've only seen in a picture and text is meeting someone for the first time. meeting someone you've talked to via video is just an affirmation.
and if you're like me, than you realize just how real and valid online friendships can be when your "irl" friendships are mostly online as well. i haven't seen any of my irl friends in almost a year. any contact i have had with them has been online, and not anywhere near as frequently as i talk to my online friends. our interactions are far less personal as well. we talk in short messages on facebook. the basics are shared and that is all. they don't watch my videos. they don't read my blogs. they don't follow me on twitter. i don't think they even know what daily booth is. it's not that they don't have access to these things. it's that they don't find value in these things. they view these things as a form of vanity instead of a form of communication.
their interpretation: YT= look at me! blog = look at me! twitter = LOOK at me! daily booth= LOOK AT ME!!!
my interpretation: YT = talk to me (breaks the ice!) blog = tell me your opinion twitter = how's your day? daily booth = let me share
all of it is interactive. it's not some psycho, narcissistic exhibitionism. it's not some twisted, permissible voyeurism. it's not, in fact, creepy. it's communication.
unfortunately, if it's not your method of communication, it doesn't seem valid. but aren't we lucky to know how very valid, and real, and wonderful it is. :) <3
