I used to comment that a computer was a typewriter that 'talks back', in the days before no ordinary folk had an on-line presence, Now in the age of connectivity, loneliness on-line becomes more apparent.
Talking into the 'ether' only serves to make aloneness more up front and personal. On-line communities are an anathema. Communing as in really getting to correspond meaningfully is a hollow joke, as hollow as the electronic worlds themselves.
Years ago there was an on-line community that bore more of a resemblance to life. It was accessible to OU students. There people expressed their thoughts, beliefs and life events. Friendships grew and folk met up face-to-face, cementing feelings of togetherness. Later in the name of 'progress', the OU adopted formats ready-made by Google. Connections were sundered at a stroke. Some migrated to other platforms in the desperate hope that the community would survive. Needless to say, it did not.
Today has been a day of several folk deleting accounts, pulling the plug on on-line communities.
Something to ponder...
2 comments:
I still so miss FirstClass. It may have been 'clunky' and 'old fashioned' (to quote others) but it worked, it really worked. It was a proper community.
I made lifelong friends through FirstClass, some of whom I have med and some I haven't - yet. One of them is coming to stay with me for three weeks and is house sitting while I go away.
I wish we still had FirstClass.
J x
That was the beauty of FC, you really got to know one another. Jx
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