Tonight, I did a very cool thing for the first time ever. I attended a meetup of Geek Brief viewers in the virtual world of Second Life. You can view a couple of snapshots here.
Topics ranged from hobbies to professions to programming languages and on and on and on. I had a good time and really hope they do this again soon.
Part of it was surreal, though. There I was, totally anonymous, talking with the host of a popular video podcast (which I happen to enjoy) about nothing in particular. Is this a bit of where community is headed? How long will it be before a church meets in a virtual world? Or you can vote in a virtual world? Or you go to work there? That’s assuming it hasn’t happened already (I’m betting it has).
What do friendships look like when you never meet face to face?
3 Comments
There’s almost a sadness to it. Most of the time people choose to enter into this kind of virtual anonymity because they can express things without people knowing who they really are and there’s less a chance of rejection, retaliation, or real consequence. You can’t see the others’ reactions so you can’t respond the way you might when someone’s face suddenly turns from happy to concerned. In that sense it creates this sort of safe zone, but it doesn’t help others to really know who you are and what you really think. I think if things go all virtual we will have lost some of the most important forms of communication and intimacy we have and sentient beings. Not that I’m totally against virtual reality as a whole, but I think it should not be developed as a means to surpass and avoid actual contact with real human beings.
I totally agree. Having virtual relationships shouldn’t be the norm. However, the chance for conversation and free or low-cost conference style meetings where people can come together to discuss ideas, however anonymously in most cases, is worth a lot.
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