November 19, 2003 I sit here & wonder about the things people do. The hurt that they cause, the lies that they speak, with not one thought of who is being hurt or slandered. 'Its just chat' is their sole defense. True enough, this is just chat, but is that where it ends? Do the binary numeric combinations which create this place stop at the moniter's screen? Do the words, the actions of people in cyberia end when the connection is cut? Many will argue that these things end as soon as someone unplugs & walks away from the computer. To this I answer is there even one person that you have met here that you call friend? Is there one person that you think of when you are nowhere near this box of circuits, wires & programs? If you can honestly say no then perhaps you are correct, everything ends when the computer is shut down.However, I have not met any person online that can truthfully say they have made no connections here. Feelings develop when spending time together, be it friendship, love, or just common interest & chance meetings. People communicate through chat, voice programs, webcams, gaming, message boards, & via email. The depths of the relationships depends on the individual, just as they do in real life. Some have met the love of their life, made lifelong friends, & met silly buddies in this 'fake' world. True enough this world is largely in our imagination, based on our own creativity. However the people traveling in this world are far from some blank face we pretend to have conversations with. Nor some imaginary friend we script to agree with every idea like many of us did as children. Each name on the screen is a real human being. Yes even the bots have a genuine human connection to them somewhere, they didn't create themselves after all. Just like the offline world not everyone online will like each other. It is a person's right to like & dislike those they choose to. There is no law that says everyone must get along in cyberspace. Just as there is no law that a person online has to be true to themselves or to the people that they interact with. My question is can a person really act the way they do online in real life? Do these gossiping, lying, malicious people actualy walk among us? Or do they kid themselves & justify the hurtful things they do because 'this is just online'? I don't pretend to be a saint, I have done things here that I regret. Things that I now know for certain should have never been said or done. Truthfully I came into this electronic world with the thought it wasn't real & there could be no harm in it. I know there is much more in this realm than I ever thought possible. I have met the man I love, the one who is my soulmate here. I have lost dear friends & I hold tight to the friends I still can reach out to. So to the ones that think 'this is just chat' or 'online' or whichever term you prefer I offer this advice; Think about the things you say & do in regards to others for there is much more than chips & harddrives out there. Inevitably there are people at the other end of your screen. Maybe they're down the street from you, maybe across the world, just always remember that they are there. And believe it or not, no matter how much they try to act otherwise, they have feelings just the same as you do. Open your eyes & see people for who they are, quite often they will surprise you. ~Patricia |