What to Do When an Online Friend Dies?
That's a question many bloggers, social network users and online gamers have had to deal with over the years, and one that the book blogosphere is dealing with right now with the sudden loss of Dewey.
Seriously, here I am sitting on my couch typing my thoughts for all of you to read. Sometimes it is a rant, sometimes it is asking you to change a bit of your life to help others out. But for most of you the only time you'll see me is in my bio pic. Who am I to you? Who are you to me? What would you do if tomorrow my husband posted my obit to my blog?
For Dewey her death has brought the book (review) blogging community together. She organized many events and we are currently discussing how the in the world all of us can continue what one woman did. Just like you don't realize how much you do until you try to stop it or write out a list, many of us didn't realize the energy Dewey put into projects.
But I didn't know her like I know other bloggers. We didn't exchange emotional emails or squeal like school girls when we finally met in person, cause we didn't meet. But her death hit me hard.
Which brings me to my question -- Are we truly building a community here? Not just at this site, but the blogosphere as a whole? And what does that community mean to us when we are merely words on a screen? Are we really a community? A family? And if so, how are our online relationships changing the way we view relationships in general? Is it sad to think that we might be better friends with someone on the other side of the world than with our next door neighbor?
add to del.icio.us
add to digg
add to yahoo
related at technorati
share on facebook
Check our most impactful articles and see how popular these opinions are with you.
Will others follow in your footsteps? Share your thoughts and ideas for changing the world.
I don't know who Dewey was but just took a look at her site. So sad that she is gone - tons of terrific content for everyone who loves books. Thanks for sharing and yes, we are all building a community - hopefully for a better world.
New communications media bring new types of relationship. It was less than one hundred years ago that huge console radios began appearing in homes across America, and people developed a new type of trust and friendship. Radio was something of a cross between a friend and a newspaper; it had all the information and entertainment of the day and it actually had a voice, too. The advent of television took this relationship a step further, greatly expanding our worlds and allowing us to both explore and escape while it did so. The dawn of the internet has added a unique twist: not only do we have the world at our fingertips, but the communication, finally, is two-way! Now actual relationships can develop. Many will be little more than fleeting acquaintance, but should one party end the relationship the other may experience a sense of loss. With internet relationships, each party may have different meaning to the other, for example the Awearness blog may be a source of information and inspiration to me, but I may be just one of thousands of happy users to Awearness. If the Awearness blog was to cease operating unexpectedly many people would experience a sense of loss, even though we haven't met Kenneth Cole or any of the writers personally. Modern communications have proven that it is possible to touch peoples' hearts and even to be an active part of their lives without being a physical presence in them.
Veronica, thanks for what you do.