I can't say I've had personal experience with it, but I've been sort of a passive spectator while people I know have entered into online relationships. It's a bizarre construct--the anonymity of the internet allows people to have the courage to approach someone with a cute photo or similar interests on a dating site, or even, with MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) someone with a high level or rare items.
I can understand when people meet online, find a connection, and decide to go on a date in person. That's basically the equivalent of a classified ad in the newspaper. What I'd like to discuss here is when the physical aspect isn't there at all--when people meet online, and their entire relationship is based on online interactions.
It's easy for that to arise out of MMORPGs. Many players invest so much time into games like World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Ragnarok Online that they develop a group of online friends, and just like in real life (though to many, games like that essentially are "real life"...personally, I don't quite get it since I've never experienced it) some relationships become romantic. People can go on online dates--playing games against each other, or watching movies "together" with torrents or on Youtube while chatting with each other. Some MMORPGs even offer the option to get "married" to another player. Come to think of it, Facebook also has that option, and also offers the means for online couples to get to know each other's friends and family.
A lot of the inhibition is gone without face-to-face interaction, so online couples may know more about each other than they would reveal to their real-life friends or family. Really, it only increases the incentive to become more and more immersed in online life.
I can see the appeal, I guess. In some ways an online relationship is just easier than a real-life one. If you have a fight, just X out of the window. But I don't think an online relationship can ever truly offer all of the aspects of real life. Physical interaction--not only sexual, but just everyday interactions like a hug or a hand on the shoulder are very entrenched in our human psyche, so I don't think it's very healthy to completely abandon that and live life completely online.
(I was going to try and find an article on the psychological effects of online dating, but so far all I've found is cheese. I'll keep looking.)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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3 comments:
That's really interesting- me and my friend Laura used to play Second Life (just for a few days haha), and I always found completely online relationships intriguing,.. When someone says "you're cute", for example, I find it funny, cause they're not talking to you, they're talking to the virtual avatar you picked, which is most often nothing what you look like. I can see how completely online relationships might not be the best thing for you...
I agree with you that talking to people online removes a lot of inhibitions; I'm definitely guilty of having difficult conversations with people over instant messenger instead of face-to-face (or even over the phone.) But I think it's important to note that if an entirely online relationship were satisfying, then couples who met online wouldn't arrange to meet in person, or exchange real photos if they could just refer to an avatar.
>_> This sounds familiar. Wonder why...
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