> On the plus side, the Internet is more of a social medium than its creators probably predicted it would become. No longer are computers these anti-social boxes one fires up and hacks away on to the exclusion of the rest of the world. (For some, computers were never like that, but I'm speaking generalities.) Now it is normal, natural, and common for people to interact with others over the Internet, as is happening right now in this message forum. Even if you're lurking and not participating in this discussion, you're interacting on a social level with other people. I have to think this is mostly a good thing -- television is anti-social in the worst way -- but the con side is that you don't know who the heck you're interacting with. The visual clues you get when you meet someone in person are not present. (As a society, we have trained ourselves to think that making conclusions about the appearance of a person is wrong, but we all do it anyway. Let's face it. Neatly groomed gentleman in a business suit is not so intimidating to us as frowning teenager in torn clothing and carrying multiple baseball bats, and although it's conceivable that neatly groomed gentleman is a serial killer and frowning teenager is a saint, I can't say this reaction can particularly be reproached.)


That's one of the reasons why the Internet's social aspect is so unique, though: the only way we can really "judge" a person in a forum like this one is, basically, by their writing style.

What if, hypothetically, there WAS an honest, friendly, and intelligent teenager who just happened to look like the stereotype you mentioned above? I'd venture to say that most people would have a much better chance of getting to know that person out there on the Internet than they would in real life.

And then, of course, there's the fact that many social relationships on the Internet are, by their nature, long-distance. Admittedly, some people might see that as an innately bad thing. On the other hand, however, long-distance communication on the Internet is practically free (especially when compared to high long-distance telephone rates), and depending on where you live, you might be able to find a more interesting circle of friends online than you would ever come across in your local area.

Add to that the fact that a good number of us here [including myself] are quite shy and introverted, and are thus much more open in forums like this than we usually are in "the outside world", and...well... you'll see why I like the Internet so much.

-- codeman"etc."38