It seems extremely difficult for human relationships to grow intimate/personal strictly over web-based communications. It is the concrete and spontaneity aspects of a relationship that make it realistic; one can develop only so much of a relationship solely by staring at computer screens. In Ellen Ullman’s article “Come in CQ: The Body on the Wire,” she explores both advantageous and harmful features of an online relationship. A feature that Ullman describes, I have also encountered: online communication as a “separate universe.” There have been multiple times when I have Facebook chatted or Skyped with friends and had conversations that are merely forgotten the next day. Like Ullman, it is as if these conversations “exist[ed] in a separate universe,” two universes that do not cross.
A large part of Ullman’s article involves the concept of the interpolation problem when communicating online. Although I have never formed an intimate relationship online, I find that interpolating does get irritating when communicating with friends, and is very similar to Ullman’s description of an “echo.” When emailing friends and family, the concept of interpolating can be extremely annoying and seem aloof. A quick email asking for an update on friends’ lives can turn into an impersonal comment that solely answers the specific questions asked. Similar to Ullman, I never feel answered when someone responds with an interpolation, it seems as if they merely ran out of time formulating their reply.
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