Happiness and the Internet...

[viridian doubletongue]

the general trend seems to be, those who become absorbed by the internet in a way which removes them from otherwise healthy and enjoyable social activity that one might partake in while NOT glued to a screen, GENERALLY seem very sad messed up soul sucked people that have a lot to hide and don't really truly connect with anyone. kinda need to think to yourself, you could probably be a LOT more fulfilled.

any online friendship just can't compare to a real one. it's just not complete. same with romantic relationships. and i'm not sure i believe the phenomenon known as romantic asexuality is prevalent. sex is fairly necessary. but if you never have, you'll never know.

 

[Katie_Q]

Well I go on facebook and my email to make up for it. But I go on here when I need someone to talk to. Most of my friends, either live out of town, love partying (which I dont), Or I start hanging out with them, and then their other friends come to hang out with them and make me feel like poop. So I leave and go home, feeling lonely, ugly and stupid and go on the internet to cheer myself up. Seriously I prefer to do most of my face to face socialization at school or with my family....
Kind of weird since I'm in the "popular" group, but most of the guys in the group don't like me. I suppose I'm not girly and hot enough for them?

But I do still go out some weekends. If I was always on the internet I wouldn't be very happy.

 

[Bay]

Obviously I know that. After all, I am online right now aren't I ?

If you know that, why you then keep saying, "Oh, for 1 person that took an online course, there are others took the REAL THANG!" >.>

Also, aren't you supposed to be offline for a bit to prove your point?

any online friendship just can't compare to a real one. it's just not complete. same with romantic relationships. and i'm not sure i believe the phenomenon known as romantic asexuality is prevalent. sex is fairly necessary. but if you never have, you'll never know.

Wiki says hi.

Urgh...is sex a big deal here now? @_@

 

[Lana.]

Let me be very honest: I am not a person that easily makes friends IRL. Sure, I have acquaintances and people I talk to, and a group of kids I hang out with at school, but actual, die-hard friends are few and far in between for me. Heck, my two best friends are my older cousin and my mother. But I don't have a problem with that. Because most of the people that I've connected with - people that make me feel good inside, make me laugh and smile - are people I know through the Internet. They make me happy. Not to say I'm depressed without them, they just make my life a little brighter.

The fact I don't make friends easily doesn't come from my time on the 'net - it comes from the fact that I'm just not a social person. Not to mention most people I know are petty, lack ambition and/or intelligence, and/or plain unpleasant. Of course, there are the few that aren't like that, and they are the people I talk to. Even then, though, I just don't get close to them - it isn't that I can't, it's just that I have no desire to do so.

I am a loner, but I am not lonely.
I have fewer friends (IRL), but I'm not depressed.

*shrug* I'm happy with my life. That should be enough.

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

I feel like using your own argument against you.

Yes, the internet can make you unhappy, but EXCEPTIONS DONT PROVE THE RULE YAYAYAYAYA

There are more people that have become happier from the internet than not.

By the way, you still haven't proven that a "real" social life is worth more than an internet one. All you've proven is that they can. A social life on the internet also can be worth as much as a "real" social life.

 

[Ven]

^He just applied his brand of logic!
While I do agree with you, a lack of a real world social life, or interaction with other humans of the opposite or same sex in the flesh, can lead to a sexual depression.

 

[Cherrim]

Now you're implying that a "real" (I use this word out of convenience, but it's misleading) social life is more valuable than an internet one, of which I have seen no evidence.

The more connections you have in "real life", the easier it is to be successful. Connections and networking are a huge part of how you find jobs and build up your career so it's important to talk to and befriend people offline. Sure, you can technically network online, and if you're in the tech industry anyway, it's probably not going to be a huge deal if you do most of your socializing online because it's a part of your career anyway. But having a wide network of online friends from various fandoms really isn't going to help you when you start trying to break into the industry you intend to work in, or need to find a roommate to cut living costs, or even just for valuable experience in dealing with people face-to-face.

I'm not saying online friends are bad--some of my closest friends are people I've met online--but there is definitely a big difference between online and offline friends. If you have both online and offline social lives, to some extent, then I honestly don't think it matters which one you prefer or which one makes a larger impact on you. But I definitely think it's unhealthy to have only an online social life. You've gotta learn to interact with other people IRL and an offline social life with like-minded peers is probably the best way.

But I'm kind of looking at this as someone who actually needs to get out and meet more people IRL since my offline social life has been pretty stifling lately. :( When you're in HS or something and a lot of the people you know IRL won't even be around in the next few years, I don't think there's any difference between an online/offline "life". Not interacting more often with the people you know from school is going to make it harder to interact with people when you're older (when it arguably matters more), but it's probably not worth it to break into a group and push yourself past your limit to make friends or attempt their idea of a social life if it's really just not your thing. And in that case, I think an online social life works fairly well and is definitely better than just sitting there talking to no one.

Basically what I'm saying is it's important to have some sort of a balance, but if you honestly cannot have an offline social life for whatever reason, online is a decent substitute. However it shouldn't be the only thing you do because actual human interaction simply cannot be replicated through text. There comes a time when you actually have to enter the real world and if you only know how to get along with people and make friends through text online, it'll be a huge reality check.

 

[Ruphire]

Wouldn't it be not using the internet that would make me have less friends, depressed, etc..,?

 

[twocows]

Don't really feel any necessity to reply to most of what was posted because it was blind flailing and/or nitpicking parts and taking them out of context.

No it wasn't. There were three separate, legitimate arguments presented to you by different people (more by now), and none took anything out of context or "flailed" or "nitpicked."

(shortened)

I'm not saying that offline interaction doesn't have its place, but I refuse to accept that you cannot be happy without it, or even that it is more valuable than online interaction. There are too many differences between online and "real" interaction to really make a decent comparison. Trying to compare the two is like trying to compare apples to oranges; neither can be declared "better" than the other because they are too different to make such a judgment.

 

[Second Coming of Jebus]

Who needs real friends when you've got hand lotion and tissues? They're always ready to bail me out of sticky situations...so to speak/type.

THANK YOU INTERNET!

 

[jasonresno]

I'm a fan of escapism and I use the internet for that reason. You can untie yourself from the trappings of your life and become whoever you want to be. I'd argue the other way around that the majority of the internet is used for social interaction (facebook, blogs, myspace) and that it is just becoming an integral part of the way we communicate.