Who are these people and why are they following me!?
Who are these people that I follow?
Some are people I know in real life. Some are people I met through the internet and then met in real life. Some are people who I met via other people's blogs. Others are people whose blogs I've stumbled upon.
I think it's so interesting how we can connect through the internet, finding people with common interests or shared views. A friend of mine once told me that she felt safer talking about certain things regarding parenting philosophies online than seeking out like-minded parents in real life.
I'm wondering if that's because you know on a message board for topic X, you know that you'll find support and things in common with the other posters. Whereas if you reveal something about yourself or your beliefs to your neighbor, you are setting yourself up for possible rejection. It's understandable, but at the same time, sort of sad. We are not giving people in real life the benefit of the doubt, ie, how do we know that they will find our views/beliefs on topic X weird?" How do we not know that they might do the exact same thing or believe something very similarly? Have we become intimidated into not expressing our true selves to real life people? Were we never that confident in the first place?
It's hard to say. But here I am, blogging about topics instead of chatting up MY next-door neighbor. It's easier to just post an editorial like this, and let people comment. It's passive. Who knows if my neighbor or my friend has time to listen to me if I needed to be listened to? Would s/he care? Would s/he think I'm crazy or odd? Most people don't think as deeply as I do, and don't need to discuss and reflect on various topics. I know that this sets me apart from a lot of people. Because of this, I have become intimidated into not sharing or saying too much to other people. This is another sad thing, but I don't want to stick out. Although, who knows? Maybe me sticking out would make THEM think more...and there's NOTHING wrong with THINKING.
As that sticker/magnet says "It's not illegal yet."
Interesting thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that for me, I'm the type of person that is one of those "open book" people who will share my life story with anyone willing to listen (whether in real life or the web). For me, the web is just another fun way to meet people and keep in touch with people.
It's funny because when I think about the place that we met online, I don't think I had much in common with a lot of people. . . but I was bored, LOL. . . and some people were fun, nice, entertaining. . . and RUDE. ;) I think I felt more leery of putting my thoughts out there because there were lots of judgements. Sometimes it was easier for people to attack people when they didn't know them IRL, too.