@Sheamus

“Yeah, but it’s not like that in real-life.”

Real life. What does that even mean? In modern usage, we like to refer to ‘real life’ as the stuff that begins where the internet ends, but the internet is a huge part of all life (real or otherwise). It’s as real as anything else.

(I believe the correct usage is to refer to ‘real life’ within quotation marks, both to differentiate and emphasise the absurdity of such. For the sake of consistency I will attempt to maintain that practice throughout this text.)

What about relationships? Tell some people you have friends online, and they’ll often say, “Yeah, but they’re not real friends. You’ve never even met.” Why does this even matter? I haven’t seen some of my ‘real friends’ in years. We have almost zero in common. If we met today, we wouldn’t be all that far from total strangers.

Like you, I engage with several of my online friends far more than I do the majority of my ‘real friends’. The internet affords us the opportunity to share information and discuss things online that simply isn’t there (certainly as readily) in the ‘real world’. You might want to talk about that new iPhone app, or the latest episode of Mad Men, or something crazy you just saw on the street, but none of your real friends are interested. They’re too busy, or they simply don’t have an opinion. Log on to Twitter, and in minutes you can find dozens of people who do care. Who do have an opinion. Who are interested.

The internet doesn’t provide us with everything we need in ‘real life’, but in many areas it’s not only an equal, but an improvement. Social media makes us more social, not less. I’m having more conversations, and learning more, than at any point in my thirty-seven years. Couple global connectivity with the ripple effect and you not only create the potential for all of us to be heard, but you have a potential audience of hundreds of millions (and very soon, billions), many of whom want to teach, want to be educated, want to engage, and want to grow.

Isn’t that what ‘real life’ is all about?