Category — Miscellany

Some of you know that I was seeing a girl for just about two months.

Was.

No sympathy, gang. We had a good run, and we’re friends, and I’m only bringing it up to exemplify a point.

I was talking to Sarah about the breakup last night. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I was Twittering at Sarah from my phone and she was Twittering at me from her phone. We weren’t texting. We weren’t talking on the phone. We were sending text messages, me in Scranton and her in LA, to a website that sent the message to another person, possibly in the form of a text message. And one of the things I’m asked is the proper etiquette on how to continue interacting with the person - a person that she’s never met. And I think that, on a certain level, that’s kinda weird.  [NOTE: Although that exchange was the impetus for this post, Sarah was TOTALLY KIDDING.]

I work in social media. I’m a bit of a social media junkie. But it takes a conversation like that to drive home how much unnecessary scaffolding we erect around our lives on the internet. I understand the reasons why - There was a point at which I didn’t associate my name with this blog because I know my grandmother Googles me and because I use the f-word here. And that kind of obfuscation leads to the way we segment out our communications.

“Relationships,” Sarah messages me, “are so complicated these days.” It’s true. You have to worry about when to change your Facebook status more than when to meet the girl’s parents. When I went back to ‘Single’, I was literally flooded with phone calls and emails and messages; I sometimes forget that what I do online goes to hundreds of sets of eyes, not just the ones I know personally. Not that I’d behave differently, just that it’s always a bit of a shock.

How do you navigate the real life/internet balance in your life?

EDIT: I guess maybe the real question is ‘Is there a real life/internet balance in your life?’ How much of the distinction between the two is imaginary?