The reason I feel guilty about spending time online, on Yahoo or Second
Life is because the people around me don't understand it and I feel like
the only one, the odd one! Giving it deeper thought though, how is
spending an evening drinking in a bar better than spending it online?
The drinking part of the equation is not good for health so leave it
out. What else do you get? Spending time in a noisy environment that is
not conducive to calm, intellectual conversation? What's left? Talking
to friends? I have those, just that they are in different parts of the
world, but people are people. They have ideas, intelligence, feelings,
aspirations, dreams. What else? Meeting strangers? I can do that, there
are thousands of people on there whom I can randomly meet, chat'em up,
create friendships, relationships.
>From my experience no matter how fancy your Yahoo id or how advanced
your avatar finally over the course of conversations and meetings what
comes out is the person behind the avatar, the real personality. That's
what you click with, that's who you look for when you come online,
that's who you spend hours talking to!
So why should I feel guilty spending 7 hours at a stretch online?
Oh yes, my back hurts!
But wait, that'd happen even if I sit that long, in a single spot in a
bar, too.
:-)
3 comments:
Here, here! I totally agree with you. I think the guilt is only valid if you are neglecting real life people around you for SL. I, for one, have to make sure I don't forget about my husband and the family members living with me, because of my increasing time spent on SL. I think as long as a balance is kept, where you socialize with real people and give them their importance, then there should be no problem with spending time with the people on SL.
Thanks for your comment, Iris.
The thing is that I live in the UK far from home, away from the family and friends (are you reaching for a tissue yet?), so the people around are not a problem. The only problem is I enjoy SL so much that I spend all my weekend waking hours on it, and that has permanently messed up my sleep cycle. LOL.
Totally understand, but you know, you should make some real life friends. We all know its not entirely healthy to spend all day in front of a PC, as tempting as it may be! Of course, thats better than being in a bar, but c'ommon, there's other stuff you can do with RL friends! :)
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