The 'drifting apart' from each other is intense and felt all the way, everyday. It is evident, even by this very act of 'blogging' and communicating in depth with avatars hiding real persons we will probably never see, touch, or smile to. I have encountered more 'soulmates' in blogs and chat-rooms than in my entire life...
dawkinson
I started the blog because I love to write about the things that bother me, inspire me and make me feel in general. I always used to write since I was a little girl .I never liked diaries where people record the daily happenings as I considered them boring. I wrote small texts, songs even conversations on small pieces of paper and then I would lose them. I thought that the only reason that I started the blog is because I wanted to replace a notebook with an internet page. However, the reasons seem to be more profound and have to do with the need to communicate with people that care about what is happening around them. It has also to do with the idea of sharing; something that tends to become so alien in modern society. People often are reluctant to share their thoughts and initiate the simplest conversation.
Inside blogs a community is created with people that I feel care about what is happening around them and share their souls without barriers through their posts. Some dare to write their surname and some hide behind avatars. I hide behind an avatar or better I think I am just using a cute avatar. People who know me will realise that I am the person writing this blog as what I write is consistent with my personality. My close friends know about my blogging experience and sometimes I tell them excited about something I read or something that I wrote. At the same time I can explore my own thoughts and have a meaningful conversation with my blog friends who sometimes I feel they observe some things that my friends don’t notice.
Every day I discover something new about my blog friends through their posts and they learn something new about me. I often try to imagine them living their daily routines while they steal some time to type hastily on their keyboards their next post.
I like them and with some I am more attached, I am interested on what they have to say and at times I feel their emotional upheaval as they can feel mine. Some of their posts touch me emotionally; others inspire me and I will never meet them in my life. It’s not a surprise when people encounter soulmates behind avatars as profound communications can develop.
What I like about the blogging experience is that no introductions are needed. Someone is reading fragments of your soul. Maybe this is why people don’t use their real names because it would make them feel too vulnerable. There are times that I feel vulnerable when I write something emotional but I would never deny or lie about who I am. Mainly my avatar protects me from the intrusion as I don’t want my next door neighbours to be able to enter my thoughts with a click of the mouse.
Inside blogs there is profound communication going on and I feel that our need for something meaningful is increasing. A meaningful conversation, a meaningful communication, a meaningful existence…
(the post was inspired by dawkinson’s meaningful comment)
(art by freckledfaced)
15 comments:
Ωραίο κείμενο και ωραίες σκέψεις!
Αυτό που με προβληματίζει και με λυπεί ταυτόχρονα στην μπλογκόσφαιρα,είναι ότι όταν συναντώ ενδιαφέροντες ανθρώπους μέσα από κείμενα,εικόνες και blogs μου έρχεται λογικά και η επιθυμία να τους συναντήσω από κοντά,ακριβώς επειδή διψάω για ουσιαστική επαφή.Θα θελα να δω τα μάτια τους,το χαμόγελό τους,το περίγραμμα του προσώπου τους.Κάθε φορά που πέφτω πάνω σε ένα blog που μου λέει κάτι,είναι σα να περπατώ στην έρημο και βλέπω μια σκιά δέντρου και λίγο νερό.Αλλά ξέρω πως ο καθένας μας,οχυρωμένος πίσω από το δικό του avatar,για τους λόγους που ανέφερες πολύ σωστά pixie,δε θα ξεπεράσει το φόβο,την απόσταση,τη συνήθεια ή δεν ξέρω τι άλλο και δε θα συναντήσει στην "πραγματική ζωή",εκεί έξω,τον άλλο.Δεν είναι τόσο κρίμα;Πόσους τέτοιους ανθρώπους μπορεί να συναντήσει κανείς σε μια ζωή;Αλλά,ας είναι κι έτσι...Ακόμα και κάτω από αυτές τις συνθήκες,έχω εξομολογηθεί τόσα πράγματα μέσα από εδώ,σε ελάχιστο χρονικό διάστημα.Κάτι που το θεωρούσα απίθανο πριν,μέσα στον κόσμο,με την πραγματική μου ταυτότητα.
Αυτά και άλλα πολλά...
Να σαι καλά!
Καλημέρα!
Χαίρομαι τόσο που μια σκέψη μου προκάλεσε τόσες δικές σου! Στην πραγματικότητα, όλοι το ίδιο σκεφτόμαστε και από όμοια παιδευόμαστε και μέσα από το διαδίκτυο έχουμε τη δυνατότητα να τα μοιραστούμε.Θα συμφωνήσω με τo gitsaki. Η αμεσότητα στην επαφή είναι κάτι που αναπόφευκτα θα επιζητήσεις,αν σε μαγεύει ο τρόπος που σκέφτεται και εκφράζεται κάποιος. Γιατί αυτό που λείπει από τέτοιου είδους επικοινωνία είναι η πραγματική ουσία κάποιου. Η ψυχική σύσταση και η συναισθηματική διάθεση μπορούν να παραποιηθούν από έναν ικανό συγγραφέα. Τα μάτια όμως...eyes don't lie. Επανέρχομαι με εκτενέστερο σχόλιο!
You made my day!
Κάνω blogging, εδώ και μήνες. Θες γιατί ξενυχτώ και θέλω να επικοινωνήσω σε ώρες κοινής ησυχίας, θες γιατί ανακάλυψα την ελευθερία (ψευδαίσθηση) του να λέω αυτό που θέλω ανεξάρτητα από αυτόν που έχω απέναντί μου, θες ότι συναντώ πολύ ενδιαφέρουσες απόψεις, που τις κυνηγάω με το φλόμπερ στην πεζή πραγματικότητα. Λίγο-λίγο έγινε συνήθεια. Τώρα, που άνοιξα το δικό μου 'σπίτι' στο μπλογκότοπο το πράγμα κινδυνεύει να γίνει Μatrix. Αλήθεια, πιστεύω πως αυτή η ιστορία έχει δύναμη γιατί, εκτός από το ότι προσφέρει 24ωρη επικοινωνία, καλλιεργεί τη ματαιοδοξία μας (προσπαθούμε όλοι να παρουσιάσουμε τον καλύτερό μας εαυτό, χωρίς το τσαλάκωμα της καθημερινότητας και την αμηχανία της αμεσότητας) και μας υποβάλλει σε έναν περίεργο παράδοξο.Να συνδεόμαστε' και να μοιραζόμαστε τα εσώψυχά μας με ανθρώπους που δε θα τους κρατήσουμε, ή θα μας κρατήσουν το χέρι στην ώρα ανάγκης, ενώ μ'εκείνους που κυριολεκτικά κάθονται δίπλα μας στον καναπέ, κάνουμε moratorium. Aυτοκαταστροφικό? 'H μήπως μπαίνουμε σε μια νέα εποχή χωρίς συναίσθημα και συναισθηματικό δέσιμο ουσίας και αυτή η διαδικτυακή επικοινωνία-αποξένωση μας προετοιμάζει για τον
homo sapiens autisticus ?
Facades. Distance. Lack of time. Security. Ease of withdrawal. These are some of the aspects that draw us to put barriers. In a sense, we only expose the mind, or sometimes fake it, and hide the body, where most insecurities emmanate from.
@dawkinson:
Κι από εδώ τα ίδια...Αν και είμαι φανατική αυτού του είδους επικοινωνίας τον τελευταίο χρόνο που ανακάλυψα τα blogs,ωστόσο υποφέρω από το χέρι που δεν σφίγγει το δικό μου στον καναπέ(χρησιμοποιώ τα λόγια της dawkinson) ή όπου αλλού.Για μένα,η σωματική επαφή είναι αναντικατάστατη.Θα αντάλλασσα τα πάντα για μια πραγματική αγκαλιά.
blogging cuts accross many barriers of modern living providing for a new way to not only to conommunicate but also to expose oneself, to follow one's passion(s), to live a personal imprint somewhere even if this somewhere is absurdly abstract, (try explaining the blogosphere concept to someone who does not know what internet is not to say a computer). Highly selective yet at the same time inherently democratic; yet its most interesting feature is I believe is that it can satisfy most: through reading or simply browsing, writing or leaving comments etc. Each of us picks and chooses what is important to him, and, unlike real life, we all end up happy!
@gitsaki
Welcome!!
Και εγώ αναρωτιέμαι σαν εσένα πώς να είναι όλοι αυτοί οι ενδιαφέροντες άνθρωποι που συναντάμε στα περάσματα μας από τα blog. Είναι απίστευτο το πόσα κοινά μπορείς να βρεις και το πόσο μπορεί να συμπαθήσεις κάποιον. Όμως σίγουρα δεν είναι και δεν πρέπει να είναι υποκατάστατο της καθημερινότητας. Αν λείπει σε κάποιον η επικοινωνία δεν είναι ο σωστός τρόπος για να την βρει γιατί δεν είναι αληθινή με σάρκα και οστά συνομιλία.. Ναι φυσικά η αγκαλιά είναι το καλύτερο! Και η ανθρώπινη επαφή γενικά. Που ξέρεις όμως αν μιλάμε χρόνια με κάποιους ανθρώπους και συνεχίζουμε να γράφουμε μπορεί και να συναντηθούμε. Σαν reunion! Μας φαντάζεσαι να γράφουμε blog μετά από χρόνια;
@dawkinson
Σου είχα πει με ενέπνευσες! Το άσχημο με το να γίνεται το blog υποκατάστατο της επικοινωνίας που λείπει στην ζωή κάποιου είναι ότι δεν ξέρεις κατά πόσο αυτό το πρόσωπο που παρουσιάζει κάποιος είναι πλασματικό ή όχι. Σίγουρα μπορεί να έχει επιπτώσεις στην επικοινωνία αλλά θέλω να πιστεύω ότι μπορεί για κάποιους να είναι μέσω έκφρασης και όχι ένας τρόπος νέων γνωριμιών. Το μόνο που θα διαφωνήσω είναι η προσπάθεια για ωραιοποίηση της προσωπικότητας μέσω των blog. Νομίζω ότι είναι πιο εύκολο να εκφράσεις τις αδυναμίες σου και να βγάλεις την μάσκα που μπορεί να φοράς στην καθημερινότητα όταν είσαι ανώνυμος.
@apotheosis
You are daring. I think that it is so interesting the comment that you made on the insecurities of the body. But not everyone has insecurities that are body related. Maybe the communication has become so difficult that for some could be a way for finding that.
@anastasia
I agree completely with your comment .It can satisfy the need to read that we both have, of learning about different cultures and writing that we also both have. This is for me a good way to blog. Not in search for what is missing in ones life.
very nice! just the way I feel when reading other people's blogs, and yours of course. Sometimes I can feel you are melancholic, others dreaming, others just happy (I haven't seen you angry yet, I would love to see that ;)
I like that kind of connection between people, its purely mental. You are so right saying that blogging needs no introductions.
It is said that people on the internet hide behind their avatars. Then I ask myself, is this THAT much different from the way people in real life hide behind false-selfs in order to be socially approved or appear to be cool?
I always say that the mean of communication does not matter, but the message itself. And what we say, regardless the way we beautify it with a nice avatar or a nice false-self, is all that matters.
many kisses!
@stormrider
I feel the same way about reading your blog too!You have only seen me angry in some of my comments when I had to defend your posts against some mindless people that were rude.Other than that I don't get angry easily.Its amazing the things that you can find out about following ones thoughts.Its like a puzzle sometimes that gets completed piece by piece.
So right!There are people who pretend behind avatars and others who just use them. That makes all the difference and I think people are not stupid they can tell who is real and who is not.
ασχολούμαι 2 μηνες σχεδόν με αυτό το είδος επικοινωνίας το blog.
συμφωνώ με τα παιδιά παραπάνω στις απόψεις τους και μ'εσένα Ράνια
με κάλυψε η εκφρασή σου για τους bloger ότι:
"Μερικές από τις θέσεις τους με αγγίζουν συναισθηματικά άλλοι με εμπνέουν"
πάντα ενα άγγιγμα σου δίνει άλλα συναισθήματα gitsaki αλλά και το αίσθημα του αγνώστου να περιμένεις κάποιο σχόλιο απο κάποιον που σε άγγιξε χωρίς να τον ξέρεις καν νομίζω ειναι μοναδικό και πρωτόγνορο για μένα
Very very nice and interesting post. My 2 cents:
I blog because I need to share my thoughts and feelings. Also, I just like to write feelingful texts, then read them and feel their aura. Usually, most of my thoughts revolves around my personal worries. Thus it's not like I intentionaly try to pretend being something that I am not, because what you read in my blog comes from a very personal and inner motivation. I am preety sure it all comes through my true self, nevertheless I don't care if I sound pretentious or not..
I think the same about most blog writers. I don't think that most of you whose blog I read, pretend to be something else intentionally. Because it seems to me that you also have a need to express your feelings on thoughts on theoritical or practical issues, philosophy, society, hobbies, art, your life and everything that matters for you. And so it comes from inside your true self. Now, if the way you express sounds pretentious, that's another matter..
And what I want to say is that I can't relate to people's comments that we have the ability to show a diferrent identity in the net that doesn't happen in the same way in "real life". I think this is a misunderstanding but it's not easy to explain. Someone can play diferrent roles in real life too and we humans have an addiction to role playing. Although we remain the same deep inside (imho). Maybe the roles we play are preety close or exagerated expression of our real selves. But it's us who have the urge, the inner motivation to express like this..
* Take the avatar example. Having a stylish, good looking, artistic avatar is like choosing a nifty outfit before going out to meet your friends.
* Consider our textual expression. Poetical, thoughtful, angry, satirical, extremely presented writtings. What is pretentious and what's not? Humans are in a need to boost feelings and add deepnes/colors/wit/emotions when presenting their thoughts. It's just sometimes that specific kinds of expression seem to be pretentious to us. And maybe people sometimes tend to present subjects, specific themes, predictable opinions that they know other people will like and agree with, but the motive for doing so still comes from our inner motivation. It still describes our true self if we can define who that is anyways.. ;P
Sorry for the random thoughts that I couldn't form well ^_^
p.s. And as an enstasis which one is our true self really?! Our personalities where formed by our personal experiences and social influence as we were raised. It could be diferrent if the conditions differed. So what is real if we could possibly be something else?
p.p.s. Smileys :)
Another way to "fake" emotions as someone told me? I personally believe now that this is another misunderstanding about the net. Just another way of communication. We like to wear black glasses, have wild hair, tatoos and stuff and look cool. As if "pretending", as if role playing was not in our nature. I like the ^_^ which is like a cute animal :)
p.p.p.s. Most people I met in real life and only knew before in the net wheren't far away from my true estimations. And they really seemed to look like and behave in real life as in the net. I remember the sympathetic persons in thoughts looking sympathetic and low tones when I met them. I remember the arrogant people I met, personalities and external looks just like some arrogant people I met in real life in the past. True!
@melomenos
Σε ευχαριστώ!
@optimus
I also believe that people are real inside blogs. Why should they lie? No one knows who they are! It is true that in our lives we adopt many roles and this is inevitable and I think that blogs are just an extension of life. I haven’t met anyone from the net but you can verify it as you have and they were not far from what you expected.
You said: “Take the avatar example. Having a stylish, good looking, artistic avatar is like choosing a nifty outfit before going out to meet your friends.”
After this beautiful and true phrase what more can I add?
Your comment is so rich that I could right a post analizing what you said so I am just going to stop here.Thank you!
I really enjoyed this post, Pixie and I can totally relate to everything you say. On a personal note about hiding one's identity:
When I started blogging I was very open about who I was. I used my real email address that had my real name on it.
That honesty changed when I started getting threatening emails. It scared the hell out of me. I knew I was blogging about sensitive issues but I never expected the hate that arrived in my inbox.
I took off all references to what I do. I never give details about my family, my friends or my whereabout and I use a dedicated email for my blog. (I still have a photo of myself on the top of my blog although no-one who didn't know me would recognise me from it!)
For me it is not about lying or pretending to be something I'm not. It is about protecting myself and my family from threats by some very sick people.
Sorry to rant on your blog but your post triggered something (that's a good thing!)
I just regret not feeling free to blog whatever I want. Sometimes I'd just like to post a picture of my beautiful family....
Keep up the good work, Pixie and btw, I like you avatar very much!
Great post and great contributions as well Pixie! Well done!!
For me avatars, usernames etc constitute a way of freeing ourselves from the inscription that our real names pose, a chance to assume 'new' or 'different' identities. I feel that in blogging, these identities may be elusive but they reflect who we really are, or at least an aspect of ourselves that sometimes I am sure that even our close milieu is unaware of. The pleasure of blogging lies in the fact that you discuss at any time on any subject with people you dont know but you feel you communicate and that you would have probably never met in your life if there was not this platform for discussion. The sad thing is that you realise how life demands to be physically disjoined from people and that you communicate via a computer and not over a coffee and some physical contact.
What is or is not real goes through a hell of a crisis nowadays and blogging can be considered as a representation of this crisis of who we are... (I hope I am making some sense)
@deviousdiva
Thank you so much for your warm comment. It’s so sad to hear that you had threatening mails-I can’t believe the kind of people that exist. I have given my e-mail but so far I did not have such a bad experience. To be honest I would also be reluctant to post my picture or my family picture even though I wouldn’t mind people knowing how I look like but it can be potentially dangerous as well. Just change you e-mail but don’t let some cowards scare you!
@mia
Thank you so much. I thought that people wrote so many interesting things in this post. It involves everyone doesn’t it?
Mia I can totally relate with what you said! And it’s true without the blog we wouldn’t have the chance of having such discussions with people that we communicate.
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