By Oz
Date: 28 June 1999

Net Relations

Net relationships.  Romantic or friendly, take your pick.  I once thought they 
were great.  How amazing to feel so close to someone you hadn't met.  But now I 
think such relationships are often just superficial, or at least much more 
fickle.  In the real world, if you invest a large amount of time and energy in 
a relationship, it may or may not last, but the chances of it just disappearing 
overnight are fairly small.

With net relations, it seems it is easy to just forget one person and find 
another, no big deal.  Cast them aside.  Another disposable item in our 
disposable society.  The relationship equivalent of a microwave dinner in a 
heat and eat container.  Looks good at the store, heat it up quick, instant 
gratification, then throw the empty container away.  There's bound to be a new 
and different flavor in the freezer.

Perhaps it is easier because there is no physical person to deal with, merely 
some words on a computer screen.  I suppose it's easier to just stop exchanging 
e-mail than it is to stop meeting a buddy for coffee every morning, or dating 
someone you've been seeing for awhile.  No explaining, no excuses, just stop 
hitting that send button.  Perhaps people fail to consider that there is a real 
person behind those words on the screen.  Why bother making the effort, when 
there are millions more to choose from?

Net friends and lovers. The short attention span theater of relationships.