Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
You don't even need to go there.
Basically, you are playing with fire if you are trying for "personal interactions on the internet"
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There seems to be a lot of stigma about "virtual" worlds, and online relationships, but I'll just say that me and my lady met online. Our friendship grew online, and -- years later -- when we realized it had turned into love, that blossomed online as well. We were well and truly in love before we ever stood face to face, and everything that we experienced with each other online was just as emotionally real and heartfelt as what we've felt since then, being physically together.
I can honestly say that we would have never met without the internet. We lived 4,000 miles apart, with absolutely no sign that any paths in our "physical" lives would have led us to each other.
We've been together 8 years now (we include the nearly 3 "virtual" years in that count), and it has been the best times of our lives. The funny thing is; the internet STILL plays a part in our relationship. Perhaps it is due to our roots being "virtual", but we have an amazingly fun time adventuring together online. We explore new worlds together. Build and create together. Go to concerts and plays together. In fact we recently went to an online presentation of Alice In Wonderland, and that same night we went out on a "real" date to dinner and a movie -- and we both agreed that Alice had been more entertaining than the crappy movie we picked.
It just adds another dimension to what we already have.
Some couples read books together. Some go hiking, or biking together. Some couples work in the same career field, or enjoy traveling around the world together. Me and my lady just happen to enjoy virtual exploration as an addition to our day to day life together.
I don't think some people give credit to the possibilities that the virtual realm can bring to the real world. Just because you can't grasp it in your hand doesn't make it any less real. When MobileRead recently lost a well-loved member to illness, did their friends here just shrug and say, "Oh well, I only knew 'em online"? I doubt it.
The love, loss, joy and heartbreak are -- sometimes painfully -- real. Anyone who has felt them, here in these virtual spaces, can attest to it.