Love Song to the Internet

This is a post I made on my Facebook Notes almost a year ago, which I rediscovered today while doing a little spring cleaning. Since I've only been officially blogging for about four months, I thought it could be re-posted.

"They" say that our online lives make us less connected with each other; that we don't know each other as human beings anymore. I submit that "they" are wrong. At least for me.

Because of the Internet, I have more friends. "They" may say that these are not "real" friends. "They" are incorrect. I have true friends on the Internet. Oh sure, some of them are only friends in the sense that they assist me in games on Facebook, or that we're part of the same birth club, or that we've been part of the same support group for health issues or single parenting or whatever.

But that doesn't matter. In each of these groups I've made real friends, true friends who have sent cyberhugs when I feel down, medical articles when I'm worried about my kids, gotten me job interviews, and even sent solid, real-life gifts to celebrate a new baby (from the Other Side of the World even). I met my husband online, for which I am forever grateful.

I know more people than before the Internet, no matter how casually, and some of those relationships have grown into more than casual. Some I've met in person, some I've been close to all my life (hi, Mom!), and some I've never met except from the other side of the keyboard. Some are in my hometown, some were once but have moved away. Some are in Europe, Asia, Oceana, and South America. Some move around.

Some are enjoying life, some are grieving, some are bringing life into the world, some are leaving the world. Some are angry, some are depressed, some are happy, some are joyous. I sound like Ecclesiastes, I know... but it's true. The more people you know, however casually, the more you have the chance to know better.

Disclaimer: IMHO, YMMV