Stop fooling yourself. There is no intimacy without eye contact. You can sit at home, clicking “Like” all you want, but until you get the hell out of the house and have actual faceTIME with people, please don’t pretend you are a genuine “friend.”
I don’t mean you have to have coffee with every single person you’ve a vague electronic connection with. I understand the long distance thing. I’m just saying that when you live in the same town, have Wednesdays off, and someone suggests getting together, you don’t start finding all sorts of excuses to avoid any real social interaction.
In my humble opinion, the Internet has caused people to isolate more today than ever before. You don’t have to get off the couch and out of your jammies to find out what’s up with anyone these days. You don’t even have to hear another human being’s voice. Conversation is becoming a lost art.
But be careful what you share—you’re bound to offend someone—and you wouldn’t want them to “unfriend” you! Heaven forbid! So repost only jokes and light stuff, cause real life is down and dirty, and it apparently violates social media protocol to intrude on anyone’s fantasy world.
Which is why, for now, I’ve made myself scarce on FB. Writing is a lonely enough endeavor, and scrolling through mindless drivel isn’t the best use of my “free time.” That’s not to say I’m only interested in serious angst. It just means that I’m striving to get out and make honest-to-goodness connections these days.
But here’s the problem—there’s not all that many “out there” to talk to!
