This was the title of an article in the Sunday Life magazine of the Sunday Age (newspaper in Melbourne, sorry couldn't find a link). It was about bloggers and the support they have received from readers of their blogs. Now I've blogged about this before, how I feel a part of a blogging community and yes you have all been very supportive in different ways. This has become a significant part of my life. I feel a sense of belonging. This is an outlet for many thoughts - my own as well as contemplating others'. I sometimes wonder though, is this a replacement for face to face communities? "There are people on the internet that I would consider closer friends than I have in real life" - a quote from the article. How close can an internet friend be. I mean, how effective is it to send off an email or comment on a blog at 3am when we're having a crisis? What would a health professional think if we gave them a blog address as someone to contact should we end up in an Accident & Emergency room of a hospital? Do we have more control over cyber relationships than face to face relationships? Is this why some people may prefer cyber relationships?
I guess the answer is that we should have a balance of relationships in our lives. Cyber relationships, important as they can be, should not be our only form of relationships, but be one of the images in our kaleidoscope of life.
I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to all you readers - for your comments and own blogs which have been supportive, amusing and thought provoking. You certainly add colour to my life.
9 comments:
As you do ours Campbell, as you do ours! I agree, that the blogging community is just one of the ways that relationships should exist...we need to be balanced about it! We all enjoy each others' thoughts, stories, opinions and that's great. But there's no beating an actual face to face relationship either! You rock Mr - glad to have found your blog! HUGS!
Yes the articel was in the Sydney Herald on Sunday magazine too.
The reason blogs are so popular is possibly linked to the fact that you can possibly be more honest in a non face to face scenario. Or may be it is because you can find people with the same interests or situation and therefore with whom you have more in common than the general face to face community.
Tho agreed you need a balance of real and cyber friends !!
Hi Campbell,
Your post is thought provoking and something I’ve pondered since I started Blogging 13-months ago. Unless one is the type who leaves short, half-witted comments on a myriad of posts on a regular basis, it’s only natural to create bonds or relationships with one’s cyber pals. Nash made an interesting observation a while ago to the effect that blogging offers anonymity which allows one to say things that might not be spoken aloud in a face to face relationship or state things that have been thought about but not thoroughly formulated yet in the mind.
There was a blogger who retired last year (and has since made as many or more comebacks than Barbra Streisand) who stated in one of his exit posts that his blogging buddies were the best friends he’d ever had. I might add that he’s 60-years old. I found that statement profoundly sad. What an hollow, barren existence he must be living to be so devoid of meaningful relationships that he considers his cyberspace chums his confidants or true mates.
I think if one were to give a Health Professional a blog address for someone to contact in an emergency, that person would be told “to get a life”. I wholeheartedly agree with you that one must find a balance between cyber relationships and real life personal friends/loves. Maybe blogging acquaintances are the icing on the cake; they add a bit of color and sweetness to the dessert but aren’t the entrée.
Thank you for writing this engaging post.
i concur. balance is key. i just started blogging in april and have found it a great outlet for my inner writer. i never really kept a diary or journal but at this point in my life i have realized that i don't remember things from my past so easily anymore. by blogging i'm keeping a written record of my life as it is today and it will be great to see what i have done or not done in a year's time.
as far as making cyberfriends, i'm all for it, but i already have my real-time friends bugging me about how much time i spend blogging. i appreciate that they miss that one-on-one time with me but i am still so intrigued by the blogosphere that i do focus a lot of time still just surfing and reading other blogs.
anyway, i am finding that balance now. i have a blog life in which i try to include stories of my friends so they can experience being part of my cyberlife and it gives us yet another thing to discuss and laugh about when we do get together in person.
Yes agree with all the above comments.. I think one can be more honest on blogs..and its become a journal (so much so that I ignore my diary at home).
Yes..I totally agree with your post. What would we do without blogging! I'd go insane!
Sounds like we are all such balanced people - of course!
Welcome Danny!
Morning Campbell. I too must agree with the majority of the previous posts. You can and do make some excellent friends on here, even if you do never meet them. On here it is more about having someone at the other end hearing what you are saying and then having them tell you what they think, knowing that for the most part they will be honest. Because you are not face to face you can be more honest about your thoughts and ideas, fears and phobias etc etc. I started chatting to a friend online 12 years ago. It was seven years before we finally met, but way before that we became very close friends, telling each other all the stuff we couldn't tell anyone else. Finally after 7 years we managed to be in the same place at the same time and have since met up three times and are still today the best of friends. But, as many have said before, it is all about balance.
It's great to see all the comments your post has generated, Campbell. I love being able to explore friendship through blogging. It's an unexpected treat.
cheers
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