FP BLOG
The Web: The Power & The Passion
Thursday 16, June 2011
Since its inception in the 1970s, the technologies for linking
computers and networks have become increasingly more intricate and
complex, and the web today links millions of people across the world,
giving us a platform for interpersonal communication unlike any
previously known throughout recorded history. The Internet has since changed our world forever. Its vast resources of knowledge can be unleashed with the click of a mouse. We can reconnect with friends and family across the globe or uncover our heritage with a few hours of 'net research.
The Internet is a powerful tool, drawing many of us into its alluring world of easy relationships, gaming, and more. We use the Internet for work, play or to book our next Australia holiday, to socialize and research, for education and romance. We even distinguish between our online life and our real life with easy-to-remember acronyms.
Is our passion for our high-tech communication toy pulling us away from what is real and lasting? Not only is it altering the way we perceive relationships – we often plunge in headfirst, readily divulging personal confidences – it's even changing how much of our attention we can give a relationship at all. The more emotional energy we pour into our online relationships, the less we seemingly have for our real friendships. Our attention is also quite fleeting, as we quickly move on to the next interesting thing or person.
Although the Internet may provide an illusion of intimacy, we must understand that without a basis in reality, an Internet relationship may be little more than words. Real communication relies on facial expressions, hand gestures, and even body movements and tone of voice.
The Internet is changing the way we communicate, but it is still just a tool. It can enhance or detract from our relationships, but only as much as we allow it. We can use it to correspond with new friends, but we should never let it replace our heartfelt real life networks of friends and supportive loved ones.