Comments on: Online relationships are fragile ones

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:04:01 +0000

Oh, and congrats on the upcoming anniversary :-)

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:03:38 +0000

Scott, I’ll admit it, I’m a huge romantic, so I really enjoyed this comment! That’s a great story with a lot of good lessons mixed in with it. Being genuine, authentic and not rushing things is key. Thanks for the comment!

By: Scott Quitter

Scott Quitter — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:58:37 +0000

There are definitely pros and cons with online relationships and they come in many varieties. I think what’s important is that you are always being authentic. If you’re not, you’ll run into problems…it’s not a matter of *if*, it’s a matter of *when!* Online relationships can be frustrating, but they can be great as well.

Tammy and I met online…neither one of us were looking for a long-distance relationship. Neither one of us was really crazy about “online relationships”; both of us had known people who tried it and things didn’t work out very well for them.

However, we became friends…and we were both being authentic with each other…and why shouldn’t we be? At first, we were just names w/o faces…as Andrew pointed out. But a great online friendship developed. A couple years later, I visited her in Virginia (as a friend) and fell in love with central Virginia (and with her). A year later, I moved there (well, here…where I’m living now). We dated for a year then Tammy and I got married. :-) We’re still very much in love and still have some of that “honeymoon glow”. BTW, we celebrate our 9th year anniversary next month. :-)

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:57:04 +0000

Yup, you are right Andrew. It is sometimes hard to remember that there are real people on the other side of that computer screen. Transparency is something that a lot of social media experts talk about, as you know. The more transparent the better in my opinion. Thanks!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:39:16 +0000

The world online is a very different place for communicating.

The detached, faceless nature makes it all too easy to forget that there are real live human beings on the other end of the screen.

Whether it be the trolls who spam and attack forums and blogs, or the just general immaturity found in some online gaming communities like Xbox Live, people just act differently online.

But the good news for the rest of us is that line is blurring. Pretty soon we won’t be faceless online. Your real life and virtual life will become one, and we’ll treat each other with the respect and courtneousness that we would if were speaking face to face.

Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. Great post as usual, Nate!