Can't deny it, I once had a little online relationship going on. I was in seventh grade and began talking to this eighth grader over AIM, which was a big deal at the time. We would talk about school, and life, and we would flirt, but our online relationship was basically our entire relationship. Like Ullman, everything we said over the internet was simple and easy. There was no sense of awkwardness. We would talk for hours and be completely comfortable in our setting. We would talk about things that we would do together, like seeing a movie or going to a party, but never actually did anything. So middle school.
Where Ullman and I differed was in our actual contact with online correspondent. At their dinner, things seemed somewhat awkward with Ullman and Karl. For me and my online eighth grade online correspondent, when we saw each other in person we would tend to just ignore each other. Once again, so middle school.
I think we both enjoyed the "fantasy" we were living online, and didn't want to destroy it by in person awkwardness. Ullman's date was a little odd, and my guess is my elder woman and I didn't want to spoil the fun we were having from behind our computer screens.
I really enjoyed reading your post! I liked how you shared your personal experience in online relationship. The phrase "So middle school" was the part that made me laugh:) I also agree with your comment that there is some kind of "fantasy" when we are chatting online. Great job!
ReplyDeleteVery fun post. It was enjoyable reading about a very personal experience. I am glad that you defined what it was about your relationship with her that made you keep up the correspondence. Things like AIM act to ease tensions between people. They reduce the personality and intimacy of human interactions, and break down social barriers that would otherwise be present. It is important that we remember how to maintain active relationships; the breakdown of them is to blame for high divorce and breakup rates, I believe.
ReplyDeleteI think most of us had an experience like that in the middle school days. I remember the first time I got an AIM account, I IMed this girl that I had a crush on and I felt like I had a lot more confidence and could say a lot more. Xanga was similar; we used to get to know people on there too. However, I think my case was a little different because I would talk to these people at school as well. IM and Xanga just helped build our relationships. In retrospect, it's pretty sad. I used to feed off of AIM, and now I don't even remember my password. It is a rather liberating feeling.
ReplyDelete