@jameswilliams90: Good point! There is so much going on all the time – just like in a pub (that was one of the comments about the relation between plurk and friendship) that people miss you easily.

The same thing happens offline too, and somehow then it feels more offensive. But I’ve been learning that it’s the same thing there as well: if your comment is ignored, it’s probably just because they were distracted by something else and didn’t hear it. If it’s important, repeat, otherwise even ignoring the whole thing is a good option.

@Terence: Hehe, walks are great :)

@Dren: You’re welcome! I’m happy to have introduced you to these addictions because it makes them even more interesting for me too.

@Lynoure: Those points make a lot of sense.

I think one more point that makes it easy to socialize online is the fact that you have an escape route. If you don’t have anything to say, you don’t have the acquard situation where you are trying to come up with something to say. You just shut up and do something else until you have something to talk about.

But that’s not always a good thing. Sometimes it also makes it way too easy to forget about the other person, and then you shut up for too long and get into this endless loop of avoidance.

Still, I guess the one big question that raises from your thoughts is whether you think people are faking online or are they in fact acting more like their true selves?

@Dren: I think the answer lies within the question about what’s the real you.

Yes, I agree that this online world can’t be your only social network. It’s just too abstract for that, as all we have for expressing our feelings are words – and emoticons.

But on the other hand, I still believe that there are real people behind the words. And when you don’t have to worry about anything else than the words, you might get closer to the other person more quickly. In this way, you can get to know people online – but then, I don’t think something like Plurk will alone make it into a real friendship.

E-mail is already something more, so is one-to-one chatting, and when you see face to face, that’s the ultimate test for whether you can also be friends outside of the web too or not. And it’s no simple test, from my experience. But then again, life (and relationships between people) is never simple.

So with all that faking and make-believing, my questions still are: aren’t the online communities and the online networking a major waste of time? Does it make people involved in it insecure cowards that would rather live in a fairy-tale instead of facing the world?

Where are the limits and where is it leading?

What does it mean to you (to all of you reading this) the time spent ‘befriending’ online?

I’m just interested in other people’s opinions, for I’m still trying to figure out my regards towards this mass phenomenon…

Bill Stevens’s last blog post: Are You Plurking Kidding Me?

I’ve observed the following pattern with me:

With really close friends, I’ve discovered that I simply cannot ‘socialize’ on-line. I cannot explain exactly why is it like that, but I guess I see that way of communicating as an insult to the quality and profundity of our relationship, the ‘real’ moments we’ve shared and all the things we’ve been through together.

Whereas, on the other hand, I have met quite some people on the net that I made good friends with in RL as well. And I am more than certain that the probability of befriending those people and meeting them in a different occasion was rather low.

Jarkko, I’d never thought that a time will come when I’ll thank somebody for an addiction, but… THANK YOU!
For two of them!

The first one is the blogosphere. It was your open, positive and inviting way of communicating in your posts that made me ‘stay’. And it was here, in the University of Insanely Interested, where I learned about many other amazing people who are unselfishly sharing priceless ideas and thoughts with others, inspiring and changing lives. ‘Thank you’ here seem as so inappropriately minute words.

And, of course, :) the addiction of Plurkland. It has incredible wibes, has it not?! :) So simple as an idea, but so amazing!

Well I guess, I really AM “lucky. very very lucky! hoo-ah!” ;)

Now I have to find new things to do to spice up my relationship with .. wife. :-)

Twitter is great. However I get to know some great people on Plurk. Although, I tend to stay away from Plurk, but Plurk has became my second thing to check after E-Mail every morning.

Terence Chang’s last blog post: Weekend Confession 10 – moving on