Week 11

     Real friendships and relationships can't be formed from behind a computer screen and keyboard. This statement has long since been my belief; this belief stems from my own real life experience and from reading about what has happened to people who have become "friends" with people over the Internet. Emotions and intentions can not be fully expressed through electronics. Those can only come from being around the actual person-seeing their face, hearing how they are speaking. The Internet is a great way to meet fake people. And yes, you can meet fake people in real life as well, but it is typically easier to differentiate between real and fake when you are having face to face conversations. I have found my truest friendships have been formed with the people I have met in real life, not over the Internet. The Internet is a great place if you want to find yourself a stalker or potential murderer, but not so great for meaningful relationships. And yes, I know there are thousands of success stories of people finding love over the Internet, but those sites never advertise how many people have been tricked by people on their sites. People who have turned out to be awful individuals-broken their hearts, stolen things, maybe stalked them, sometimes they even kill their dates. You can also have the people who form fake relationships with individuals with the sole intent to bring them harm. They can form these friendships or romantic relationships, get the person to trust them, and then end up doing something awful to that person. That horrible act can sometimes have deadly consequences. This is why I am weary of trying online dating, why I never accept friend requests from people I don't know, and why I rely on meeting people the old fashion way. Nothing beats having a face to face conversation. Feeling those butterflies when you look at your crush. Being able to comfort and be comforted by a friend-feeling their arms around you, hearing their voice calming you. In person contact will always be the best form of communication and forming lasting relationships.