Is IW Healthy?

[Melusine]

Agree with what most of the others here said. (LOL Saz, you are SO right! Some people will try to make you feel bad about having online friends when all they do is hang in front of the telly, go to work, go to sleep, watch the telly... ad infinitum)

First of all, I always have to laugh when I hear the words "real people" when talking about online friendships. As if the people you meet online are NOT real people! Are they a bunch of AI drones then?
That's a disturbing attitude IMO, since I believe it causes a lot of people to overreact to posts online, and not to care about the reactions they provoke. I think you should try to interact the same way as you would with someone sitting across the table in a bar (and I know that's not always possible... but at the very least you should try and remember there's an actual person with very real feelings at the other side).
That said, it's obvious I don't make much of a difference between the people I know in my own area and the people I met online. Like some of the others, I use emails to communicate with "real life" friends as well, and I have met and will meet some of the people I've befriended online. So the boundaries are certainly fading.
As long as you don't get swallowed up by being online to the point where your other activities (work, school, friends, love) suffer, I think there's nothing wrong with it.
Yorick's absolutely right: it's all about balance.

[Donut]

Originally posted by Aviendha: They say the standard things, like “How do you know you’re not talking to some dirty old man?” Avi.

You are!!!

Originally posted by Donut: quote: Originally posted by Aviendha: They say the standard things, like “How do you know you’re not talking to some dirty old man?” Avi.

You are!!![/QUOTE]LOL Donut! I'll keep that in mind! [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[Donut]

I'll be meeting with 8 other members this weekend and I'm starting to worry. You see, they may think that I'm as funny in real life as I am on IW but in fact I'm FAR funnier in RL. I wonder if they are going to be able to cope!

[Mouse]

Originally posted by Donut: I'll be meeting with 8 other members this weekend and I'm starting to worry. You see, they may think that I'm as funny in real life as I am on IW but in fact I'm FAR funnier in RL. I wonder if they are going to be able to cope!

When were you funny??? Give me examples, preferably accompanied by independent testimonials. In fact, medical reports from hospitals where victims whose sides you have caused to split due to uncontrollable guffawing would be nice as well.

Btw, you will not be meeting me, you will be encountering me. And don't even thing of responding with subtitles or it's no malt for the Gooner.....
[img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[ 07-11-2002, 06:49 AM: Message edited by: Mouse ]

[Donut]

Originally posted by Mouse: quote: Originally posted by Donut: I'll be meeting with 8 other members this weekend and I'm starting to worry. You see, they may think that I'm as funny in real life as I am on IW but in fact I'm FAR funnier in RL. I wonder if they are going to be able to cope!

When were you funny??? Give me examples, preferably accompanied by independent testimonials. In fact, medical reports from hospitals where victims whose sides you have caused to split due to uncontrollable guffawing would be nice as well.

Btw, you will not be meeting me, you will be encountering me. And don't even thing of responding with subtitles or it's no malt for the Gooner.....
[img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]Let me see if I can find the link to that site based in Aberdeen that you once posted. How will your reputation suffer then?

[Melusine]

Originally posted by Donut: Let me see if I can find the link to that site based in Aberdeen that you once posted. How will your reputation suffer then?

I think I know which one you mean, Donut
It's the first hit if you do a Google search with the two words...

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Actually, I cant see how IWs is a bad thing... you meet so many different ppl here, with different backgrounds and views, and thats always interesting... lol; this is gonna sound weird but, sometimes I just look around and wonder why, or how ppl can be so stupid (looking at Britian purely, local if you wish) I sometimes *do* wonder if humanitys a blight on the earth if they *all* behave in such a stupid way... I see stupid laws, and stupid taxes, which only squander money; They build more houses, then more roads, then tax ppl more... etc, then I have a look at IWs and see 'different' ppl, and that restores my faith in humanity somewhat... lol, and this coming from a 17 yr old?!

[Kakero]

I go to IW because I want to improve my english, I always get the highest mark in English subject during my school years but I am amazed that there are a lot of people in the world whose english is better than mine. so that why I'm here.

Second reason is that people in IW don't slam each other like in message board in gamefaqs.com or 3do community. I know there is sometimes very disturbing threads here in IW but I tend to see people here can take it well.

Third reason is I can choose whether or not to receive any private messages. My experience in 3do community tells me that not all messages that people send to you are good one. some wants to get very very personal.

Fourth reason? emmmm...I can't think of one.

[Attalus]

The difference between meeting someone in RL and on the Net are that, here, you meet their mind, or as bset as they can express it by typing, and in RL you would be influenced by their looks, clothes, etc. Both can be deceiving, as the stranger that a girl meets in a bar who claims to be a surgeon. The longer you know someone, the better you know him/her. Besides, when you meeet someone in a bar, you are 'looking', consciously or unconsciously. In a chat room, you are saying 'I am lonely.' Here, you are saying, ' I am interested in RPG's, and that is about it.' How endangering is that?