Friends, I am writing to you all today to ask you for help. I want your opinion about a thing.
The thing is online relationships.
No, no. Not like online dating relationships. Like you know someone really well but the only way you communicate with them is through the world wide web. Or you are dating someone but they are far away so you text and facebook each other all day. Or you are fb friends with a random person and you are obsessed with their lives, but they have no clue who you are. Or someone adds you as a friend and you don't know them but then you meet them and it's awkward. Or you exchange emails with a charming stranger for like a year but neither of you know that you are business rivals and he's the person that you put you out of business so you swear to hate him forever but then, once your store closes, you kind of become friends and when you finally meet your online boyfriend it's him and you say "I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly". Oh, wait.
Sociologists call these "parasocial" relationships.
So, what do you think? Are they weird? Are they normal? Are they healthy? Do you have any cool stories?
I'm writing a paper on this and it BITES. If you love me, you could help me.
5 comments:
First of all, thank you for the delightful YGM reference. You know that I stalk a few blogs. I think it's fine until you start comparing yourselves to them. Read these links that talk about this issue:
http://dearlifefromnoelle.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-you-dont-see.html
http://jandjvela.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-you-dont-see.html
oh my gosh i can't believe you quoted you've got mail!! i love you so much right now. here's my two-sense.. cents(?) about it. i think online relationships are so confusing. because the bottom line is they totally destroy lots of people's true ability to be social in a face-to-face sort of way. i think it's kinda detrimental to society because i feel like people do compare themselves even if they think they don't, sometimes old flames are re-kindled causing marital/friendship issues. also, i think people are WAY to comfortable online and they say things that can total hurt people. and it isn't kind. people should not have a internet facade to hide behind. if you have something to say, say it to the person's face.
all that said i cyberstalk.. i do and it's bad and i should stop, because i'm kind of a hyppocrit. okay long rant over. love you bye!!
p.s hope that made sense/ helped!!
In my humanities class we talked about scopophilia which is the love of seeing, particularly when no one knows you're watching. The idea is that we get pleasure, sometimes sexual (eek!), from "stalking" on the internet (or, you know, in real life, too). "we've become a society of peeping toms"--rear window, alfred hitchcock. lol
If blog stalking is bad then I need to go to jail
First, I love your blog. You are so funny. I love it. Especially the "oh, wait." Bahahaha!
Anyways, I think these are completely normal in today's world, parasocial relationships. And what's interesting is that today we have a new medium for these relationships to emerge: the internet. I mean, Justin Bieber is a completely internet based celebrity. Thats how he started. His mom posted videos of him singling online, and enough teeny-bopper girls watched him to make him a national superstar. There is a good article in Time magazine about him if you are interested. Here it is: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1987603-1,00.html
Hopefully that helps.
On a separate note, I miss you. Come back to Arizona.
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