This post is not strictly diet related but was on my mind so I decided to share.
Although I have friends in real life, I never was one to have many friends at once. I always tended to have several close friends at any given time. The reason why I tell this is because while talking with the wife I mentioned something that was said online by a "friend". She made the comment along the lines that "those people are not your friends". She said this in not a mean way but simply as an observation. As I thought about this later I believe she may be right in some technical definition sence, but I think she was wrong at the heart of the matter. I believe this whole new social media realm is truly blurring the lines of friendship in real life versus friendship online. While my wife is one to avidly spend time online, she is simply surfing the web but not interacting in any social way. She doesn't enjoy Facebook, blogs, or Youtube much. In fact she mainly loves to shop online (this is fodder for another post someday LOL). So the idea of developing "friendships" online is truly foreign to her. And that is OK. In fact I can see myself making the same statement several months ago. However since starting on my weight loss journey and meeting so many nice people in the weight loss community, I can see that is a very narrow view. Although we may never meet each other for dinner as one might with a real life friend. That is if the real life friends and my schedules ever work out between work, kids and everyday life responsibilities. But we can certainly describe our dinners on our blogs and comment back and forth etc. If you are reading this you probably understand what I mean. It's not the same and that is OK, in fact in some ways even better. For example, when I ramble on and on, you can simply move on to the next blog (hopefully not just yet!). Of coarse in real life sitting at dinner this is not so simply done. If you are on Facebook, please check out this bunch of wonderful people in the weight loss community at http://www.facebook.com/youtubeweightloss
I have never seen a more supportive and motivating bunch of people. And if blog reading and Youtube watching aren't enough, they have people doing the video chat thing. I haven't tried this yet because I don't have a webcam, but I will try it soon. The neat thing is there are people in different time zones across the world so whenever the mood strikes you to talk, there is a good chance someone will be able to talk with you. Now if that is not blurring the lines of friendship between real life and online, I don't know what is. What do you think? What do you call your online "acquaintances"?
Good post!
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ your wife and with you...online "friends" are not the same as in-person friends, however, they are a variation! I have had online people "follow" me for years, and with some I have developed close friendships in that we talk (email, texts, phone) outside of blogs or Facebook as well as some whom I have met face-to-face! One thing that is unique to online friends is that you meet based on situations that both are going through/dealing with, and that's the starting point (rather than real-life friends who you might meet based on living in the same area, kids in same school, work, etc. etc.)
Both concern me: (1) people who won't go online and shun that part of life - bc I believe it's the way that life is going and it truly DOES broaden our horizons; and (2) people who no longer meet their neighbours or reach out to others in "real life" bc they have online friends! How would our world be if that continued??!!
Both types of friends have indeed made my life more enriched - online friends seem to share more of the nitty-gritty and that has helped me to see myself in a new way; real friends share the dynamics of face-to-face realities that perhaps we don't see in online friends...
I'm glad for all my friends - they have helped me to be a better "me"!
Dawn
@❀❀ Dawn (Lay Down My Idols) ❀❀ Great points Dawn. I totally agree both extremes are a concern. I guess I am truly amazed at this online world just because I'm so new to it. I have been online forever, but I never put myself out there in an interactive fashion before. I have to say I'm enjoying it!!!
ReplyDeletei have many what i now call blog friends. in some way they know me better than my "real" friends. i've now had the pleasure of meeting 3 IRL.
ReplyDelete@Karen I think that is really awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI am much more apt to "open up" to my online friends than I am to my friends and family in person. I guess I feel more vulnerable in person talking to people who may or may not understand my struggles. My online friends truly understand because we have the same struggle in common and we already know that at the outset. It's easier to express our concerns to people we already know will be supportive and encouraging.
ReplyDeleteIt is a support group in an electric society, but the faces are real when revealed. It is just as deep as a physical relationship, because we get to know deep things about the bloggie. I am not sure if in RL(real life as my eldest calls it in comparison) we would ever meet or be physical friends, but I value my electric connections deeply. In written form and sharing media...we actually become much closer than RL friends. In the blogosphere, we can take the time here with things and feelings we do not do in RL. Digital imprinting our family events, growth, our daily status and right here our diet journey. It makes us less alone. We have a larger reach than in RL. This is very real.
ReplyDelete@downsizers Yes I suppose having the same struggle at the outset does help to make online friends seem so comfortable.
ReplyDeleteBluezy You hit it on the head!! That's what I'm trying to say. Your words were just so much better!!
ReplyDeleteJust gotta look at the support i had on my blog after breaking up with my gf to realise how wonderful internet friends can be.
ReplyDeleteI met a wonderful friend from australia on facebook who followed our daily youtube videos. We have been messaging each other everyday for almost a year. We send packages threw the mail to each other and feel we were meant to meet, and vow we will meet in person in a few years!
ReplyDelete@Tim Yes, this is a perfect example. Amidst all of the bad, it must be nice to know you have all of those people that care about you.
ReplyDelete@Debbie That sounds nice. I hope you get meet someday.
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