In Defense of Online Socialization

I admit it. I bemoaned the inevitable loss of humanity’s ability to interact with itself in person, face-to-face, when common, social interaction started to take place online.

I feared that in a handful of years, people would forget how to “properly” socialize altogether.

I feel happy to report that my concerns proved needless.

The Internet affects humanity’s ability to socially interact—for the better.

Online Meet-up groups allow us to start clubs instantly. You never need to staple a bunch of fliers on posts and cross your fingers.

Play any game online with anyone, anywhere.

A chat line exists to debate any subject at any time.

I can text entire groups of friends with a few swipes of my finger.

Let’s discuss texting for a moment, because it developed a bad rap due to people such as my former self who instantly and unfairly disliked it.

I cannot, in a conversation performed face-to-face or over the phone, take back what leaves my mouth. Sometimes, I cannot even stand certain of exactly what I said.

I can review what I “said” with text messaging, rethink it, realize, where applicable, that it communicates the wrong message, and rewrite it.

I can proofread what I say in a conversation!

I, with texting and email, keep a written record of every conversation I conduct.

I can recheck facts sent to me. I can correct someone who insists that I never told them a certain something, and I can prove that they promised a certain something.

Once upon a time, if someone called me with an address, I needed to search myself for a pen, paper, and a flat surface on which to write. I afterwards possessed an address, but no idea how to find it.

Nowadays, someone texts me an address, I tap the address within the body of the text, and my phone’s GPS navigates me straight to it.

The Internet opens door. Hell, it burns them down.

A decade or so ago, you needed a publishing house to accept your novel, or it never saw the light of day.

Now, you can publish it straight onto Kindle, or Nook, or Google Books, or iBooks, or any number of other options that allow almost anyone in the world to read it right that second--or a thousand years later.

Want people to watch your standup comedy? Upload it onto YouTube.

People form bands online, practice online, cut albums online, and even sell their recordings online.

Tyrannical governments desperately want to “protect” their people from the Internet for good (well, selfish) reason. A government cannot lie to a population armed with Internet access.

Tell me that a country consists of nothing more than evil, bloodthirsty monsters that hate me for no good reason?

I can chat online with any number of those people. I can see their cities from a bird’s eye view. I can read their newspapers, watch their television programs, and observe whichever rallies take place on their college campuses.

The Internet humanizes us. It could honestly end war. I seriously propose that. The Internet could humanize us to the point that humanity no longer wants to kill itself.

What about those loners who play online MMO (massive, multiplayer, online) games, all by themselves?

They play those games with actual people. In my childhood, those same kids played games by themselves, or read comic books by themselves. They existed by themselves.

MMO games actually bring those loners closer to actual people.

The Internet grants us instantaneous connection with the world. It expands our abilities to socialize, supplies previously undreamed-of options to meet new people, experience new events and settings.

Yes, you might know someone in India better than your own neighbor, but why should you consider that a bad development?

Why should your neighbor matter more to you than your new friend in India? Because he lives closer to you? That seems a weak argument.

The Internet will continue to grow stronger, and, with it, so too will grow our ability to communicate with all of humanity. A world without walls. A world without kilometers to separate its fractions.

I raise my glass.

(I feel pleased to report that the third book in my series, Diaries of Darkwana, will finally arrive on Kindle next month. I apologize for the artwork-related delay.)