Let’s build a global group of friendships

By Daniel Donan

Okay, this one is a hard one to defend. How am I supposed to say that internet socializing is better than the real thing? How can I compare face to face interaction and conversation with the illusion of connectedness that internet socializing allows? Is it even possible to say that surfing the web for your social kicks is at all anywhere near equal to sitting with someone and sharing a laugh and sigh and maybe a touch? Yes, it is possible, and it all comes down to one word; globalism.

Being able to log into Myspace, Facebook or Twitter, or any other social Web site out there, allows one to connect with people who they might not be able to talk to in their local geography. It is true that we are moving into the global one world village and internet socializing is what makes it all possible. Through the internet, I can share jokes with hucksters in Hawaii, exchange recipes with real people in Rwanda and swap naughty pictures with all those lovely Ukrainian women out there.

These are not things I could do if my social scene was limited to St. Joseph. Through the internet, I have been allowed to catch up with kids I graduated high school with twenty years gone now. I probably never would have reconnected with most of these people if it were not for internet socializing.

Back to the concept of globalism. This world we live in has truly become a smaller place. News travels far faster now than in the days of analog television dialogue. Internet socializing allows you to be a part of that exchange process.

Internet socialization is perfect for those who do not have the loudest voice in mixed company. Internet socialization is great for ugly people. And for someone like me, right now, afflicted with this damnable swine flu, eyes burning, guts clenching, shivering and sweating at the same time, I can still seek out the internet for the presence of a person so I can know I am not alone in the universe. And this way no one has to watch me cough up a lung.