DISTANT ENCOUNTERS
The Internet is fast becoming the contact medium for the new millennium.
Although sitting in front of a computer seems a particularly lonesome pursuit, the truth is that the vast majority of people who surf the Net ate there in search of social interaction – real contact and companionship, not just information overload. The most fundamental law of contact on the Net is communication. The basis is always about pursuing some interest with like – minded people or just shooting the breeze about nothing in particular.
Connecting people. These days you don’t have to leave your room to get in touch with people who have similar interests to yours right from the start. And, what’s more, distance needn’t be a problem. One of the best places to meet and greet people is IRC. This collection of online forums or newsgroups contains postings from people who have asked for some info, and answers from those who have replied. If you learn how to use the anonymous posting programs that are around, you don’t even have to reveal your real name or location.
Another advantage is that since no one can see you, you certainly don’t have to worry about looking your best all the time. Indeed, as on line goes virtual, you could create visual images of yourself that suit your mood or contactee. And t goes without saying that engaging in a heavy romance on line is the last word in safe sex. Cyberspace viruses may kill your computer but they won’t kill you.
Near – yet far. There are, of course, drawbacks to this new medium Ironically, the very technology that pulls most people together also keeps them apart. After a while, the safe sense if distance that, at first, seems so liberating to newbies on the Net, can become and obstacle to letting the friendship develop further. Some may begin to feel that particularly human sense of unease that something is missing from a friendship conducted via machines.
‘As people, we need a tactile physical presence to make a complete bond. We need to see their face, see their gestures and small their breath’, point out psychologist Michaelle Weil of Orange, California.