Over at Brass Tack Thinking, Amber Naslund took to her blog to stress that virtual relationships are as valuable and meaningful as real world ones.
Human relationships have many facets. When they’re real, they’re not real because of the things we use to cultivate them. They’re real because the human bond is there, the connection that extends beyond the means. No tool, website, or thingamajig can take that away, and none can replace it entirely. When it happens, that bond between people – either personal or professional – is as real and genuine as the individuals themselves.
I’d echo the sentiments.
I’ve lived in a lot of places over the last 15 years, and as I, and my friends, have relocated we’ve taken to the technology of the times to keep our friendships alive. From instant messaging to free weekend minutes to Friendster to LinkedIn to Facebook to Twitter, social technologies have allowed me to stay in touch with people I’ve met in real time and in greater detail than the occasional email would permit.
Had there not been meaningful connections shaped by working, schooling, and playing together, there would be no reason to stay in touch. Genuine interest in the lives and well-being of friends exists whether I live 5 minutes on foot or 5 hours by plane away. I probably interact with more people on a daily basis now than I did just a few years ago because social technology makes it so effortless.
On the flipside, through blogging and twitter, I’ve met a variety of people from around the country and abroad that have enriched my life. Given the scattered geography of my digitally-discovered connections, I likely would never have met them without technology. I know them as well as my real world connections, because of the endless banter that Twitter and Facebook allow. And I’ll never ceased to be amazed when someone approaches me at a networking event to see if I’m THAT Andrea_Zak.
In fact, I’d argue that virtual relationships have made me a better friend in real time. As someone who has always been a bit guarded with new people, technology created a buffer zone that allowed me to get to know amazing folks. Given my online connections tend to operate outside my real world social network, open interactions somehow felt safer — even though I realize the converse is probably true.
That distance allowed me to express myself freely in ways I was, at the time, too insecure to express to live people in my presence. Having that space helped me build up the confidence to hold my values near and dear 24/7, not just when I’m chatting away with a semi-stranger that comments on my blog. Now I’m more likely to make genuine connections with people, because I’m more comfortable sharing of myself and build stronger bonds as a result.
Can the internet be an interminable waste land? You betcha. But it can also be an electronic coffee clutch that keeps you in the know about the people that matter to you.
Social technology: relationship hype or helper?
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