Internet

I did not post anything yesterday because the internet was down when I was at lunch. It was amazing to me how quickly people started coming back to my corner of the office (I sit across from the tech guy) to ask what was going on and when it would be fixed.

I also noticed yesterday that a website that I read was having some technical difficulties. On my way home I got a phone call from Katie asking what was going on. Where did the website go? I am happy to report that Julie's website is now back up and working. (Although she says that there are still a few kinks to be worked through.)

Both of these things got me thinking about our reliance on the internet for most of what we do in everyday life. Do you realize that this thing that we have become so attached to really only became available to the masses in 1993? That means that in 12 years we have become so reliant on the internet that it is hard to imagine life without it.

In fact, there is now a whole generation of children that will never know what it is like to live without the internet. Makes you feel old doesn't it? Anyhow, I do have a point here, I promise. With the invention of the internet it has made it very easy to stay connected to people. But the connections that we have are not always as "personal" as they used to be.

It is very easy to get onto the web and e-mail all of your friends that you are expecting a baby, or that you got a new house. Before we all had e-mail you would call these people and personally share with them your news. While it is SOOO much easier to just shoot off that mass e-mail, it is also MUCH harder to read emotion in an e-mail. Many of the social skills we have for telling whether someone is joking or being serious are wiped out when we e-mail a person.

That said, it is also much easier to forget that behind the website or the e-mail there sits and actual person with thoughts and feelings. I know that I personally read about a dozen or so blogs, most of which are people whom I have never met and who don't even know I exist. At any point in time, I am well aware that the same could be happening to me.

Anyone can read this blog, and if they don't comment I will never know that they were even here. In the same token, it is easy to write something in the comments that you would NEVER say to someone in person. We forget that eventually those comments go to a person, not just into the world wide web.

So now, I want to hear from all of you. If you have never commented before, take this as your opportunity. How attached are you to the internet? Are you guilty of finding it easier to just send out a mass e-mail then to call people on the phone? Do you read blogs of people you don't know? Have you ever commented on a blog and then kicked yourself later because what you said was mean or just sounded really dumb?

I'm counting on you people!! Fill up that comments section. But remember, for every comment, there is a real person on the other side of the computer who is entitled to whatever opinion they have.