"Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood."
That makes you very real to me :)
Published on July 14, 2004 By Sally jacobs In Blogging
I think I owe this article to the few people I have come across online that have touched my life in some way, and I consider them to be very special people. There aren't many of them, a select few people, that I consider to be friends, and in no way any different from the friends I have in the real world. Well that's a lie, of course they are different, the internet is a different situation than the friends you meet at work or at the pub, it is a different situation completely. Lets compare it to the people you meet at work for example, these are people that you spend a great deal of time with. You go to work for what, eight hours a day, these people see you when you've got a hangover, when you've had a great day, had a bad day, and some become friends, and some remain colleagues, how do we decide who is worthy of our friendship? These people usually take a while to really befriend, even though we spend a great deal of time with them, they don't know the real us. They see the professional that comes to work, and to build a friendship with them usually takes time. These are better friends than the ones that are made on the internet though?

The internets biggest problem is the trust factor, because you don't see the person you are talking to, because you don't always hear their voice, you could be in theory talking to anyone. Sure they can provide pictures for you, but they could be easily faked. So how do you know you can trust this person? You don't. You don't know for sure they are who they say they are, that is a risk you take. We are adults though, we aren't children. For children the internet is a far more dangerous playground to play in. They are easily lead, people come on here to get at them, and for this we should be careful, children should be told not to trust people, to be careful, of course they should, we all know the stories of children meeting people off here, and going missing and other awful stuff. The key is, we are adults. We are capable of making our own decisions, making our own judgements, of course we still have to be careful, we could be talking to some psychotic killer, that if we ever agree to meet, could chop us up into tiny pieces and feed us to their cat in the basement or something like that.

Lets be realistic though, how do we know our work colleague that invites us for a drink after work isn't a psychotic killer? Because we can see their face? Well of course, we can tell what a person is like just by seeing their faces. Whatever situation we are in, we have to be careful, and only trust people to an extent, till we at least know them a little better. Our offline friends know us better? I'm sure in alot of cases that is the case, but I know that a lot of my offline friends would be surprised at the things I wrote on my blog for example. They see sides to me that maybe I don't show on here, but I show sides of me on here that they don't see, it works both way. Our society in here is mostly judged by face value, it's different on here, we are judged as the people we are. Now I know people can create different lives for themselves, pretend to be rich and gorgeous, but their personality and the person they are still comes through. Your personality is all you have on here. That is so important, that we judge someone for the person they are, rather than the way they look or their status in society. We get to see peoples deepest thoughts on here, their fears, hopes and dreams. They don't hold back, they can be totally honest with less fear of ridicule from those that live hundreds of miles away. To see the deepest parts of someones personality, and to get to know them on that level before anything else, for me is priceless.

Which gets me onto the people you meet online. You get to meet people you would probably never ever come across otherwise. people from thousands of miles away that you otherwise would never have the pleasure of talking to. How special is that. That someone who is eating breakfast while you're eating dinner is part of your life. The internet is connecting thousands of people everyday. I've met some very special people, that I never would have. People that are now a huge part of my life, people I care alot about, people who are very special, people who are my friends, and though I met them on the internet, so what? To me that makes them more special. Yes be careful, don't fully trust, but it's no different to people you meet in the real world. You have the opportuinty here, now, to connect with some fabulous people, don't waste it.

Comments
on Jul 14, 2004
awww..I dunno what to say...except Ditto (and why am I awake at this time?). hehe. I'm touched. You, and a lot of other people i've "met" here have been damn good friends to me. And regardless of who they are, or how I met them, I am very grateful for that. They are very special people.

I think you were one of the first people i got to know on JU (??i think). Anyway, I'm no good at this stuff, but i do think you are a really amazing, kind, generous person,and very talented writer- and I'd be proud to call you my friend, "real" or otherwise!! Thankyou for all the support you've given me. and keep writing!!

Love Dyl xx




on Jul 14, 2004
Nice one Sal

It's the community here that keeps me coming back, I have met some very special people indeed online, certainly many I would consider to be my friends!

You are a very good friend indeed Sally J!

BAM!!!
on Jul 14, 2004
You are a very good friend indeed Sally J!


awww thanks Mugz, you aint so bad yourself
on Jul 15, 2004
i've really enjoyed getting to know you on yahoo! i hope we can have a lot more fun times like yesterday's (talking to that silly woman.. hahah that was great!).. you're great and i enjoy talking to you
on Jul 15, 2004
Awwww Marianne you're so lovely! It was funny huh, though it does make me worry about what I sound like, ha!
on Jul 15, 2004
Wow! Took me long enough to come and comment here.

You know how I feel about you, Sally girl. Who cares if people think that we can't be friends because we met on the net? We took a chance and it's worked out for the best. And why not take a chance when it is a format like the net where you can simply block the person from contacting you if they get a bit weird (unless you give out personal information and they keep calling you or something...)

Good on you for standing up for all of us who have made great mates on the net. I feel sorry for those who are so distrustful of the people they 'meet'.

Keep blogging baby! Can't wait to party at Sir Pete's performance!

Suz xxx
on Jul 15, 2004
...everything takes you agesss sweety! I was just about to harrass you about leaving a message! Since you partly gave me the inspiration for this blog!

I thought I had to write this blog, just to let people know there are ups and downs to it all, and you know how I think about you, and how I waffle on and stuff! As long as you are careful and pick you're friends wisely, then you should be ok! You should also be careful giving out personal info, or you could end up having an aussie chick waffle at ya for three hours on the phone (and of course loving every minute of it, hehe!).

Thanks for commenting sweety, and you know how much I appreciate our friendship, you truely rock hunny *hugz*