It was just a matter of time until the Internet dulls our senses. I have just lost a "friend" due to this unfortunate issue. It seems that without the ability to hear infections in our voice or see facial features, mere words can mean so many different things in a chat room. As a writer I strive to get my point across when telling stories and poems but when I am not in the zone, the chat room can be a real land mine.
I have heard many of my friends tell me that they had their feelings hurt by someone they were talking to and that it was all a mistake when they got to talk to them in "real life". So what does that tell me? It tells me that technology has both helped and hindered our way of communication. As humans we rely on our senses to tell us what we need to know. Our sense of smell, our sight, sound, taste, hearing...but with the Internet you only get a couple of these and the other senses are paused, set to the wayside to wait.
The Internet only uses our sight and sometimes hearing but in chat room situations, we don't even get the hearing part only the sight. Can we trust our own eyes. Is what we are interpreting really what the author trying to say? If I put out there the word LIVE...what did I just say? Did I say LIVE from New York? Or LIVE for today? The English language is so expressive and misleading and can be taken so many ways.
Oh Internet I have learned my lesson. I will no longer take for granted the idea that someone might understand me without the benefit of sight and sound. I vow to make myself clearer and my points less ambiguous. I will take my writing "in the zone" to every facet of your being. I walk away defeated by the Internet but will rise up smarter and hopefully a better writer.
Until next time...
Oh and post script, to the gentlemen at the library who eats garlic hummus and crackers...THIS IS A LIBRARY NOT A CAFE! Eat somewhere else and for the love of all that's chocolate, chew with your mouth closed!
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