|
ProlificNeeds -> RE: Online Domination..what the...? (5/22/2007 7:39:42 PM)
|
As an extention of a RT relationship I could see it being used as a form of communication to continue contact in some way, and while I consider it a poor substitute, I suppose it can fill the void when a D and s are apart.
Stand alone, I don't see how online could be fulfilling, Some may find it is the level they are comfortable with, flirting and toying with the concepts and applying what's most comfortable? Then you have to consider, how often do people get upset, feel their lives are impacted by people they speak with on the internet. I do not mirror this attachment though I can sometimes connect on a solid mental level, it's still only a single dimensiont o me.
I have however seen MANY people (mostly from playing online games) who develop these fantastical bonds through the internet alone, to the point of obsession or an alteration of reality. They go insane if so-and-so doesn't come online, they spend all their time chatting, dreaming, and in effect, ignoring reality for the fantasy they make up consisting of content they recieve through this virtual world. I've watched people break down in tears, tear apart their physical surroundings, fall into deep pits of depression. I feel it's an addiction of the past decade, the internet is a gate way to fantasy, no need to take drugs or run away from home, it's all at your finger tips. It definitely requires a mindset to do however, to percieve textual (sometimes pixelated!) people as intimate contacts.
This is sort of the opposite end of the spectrum fromt hose who feel people on the internet are nothing BUT text and cannot associate an SN or an image with a real thinking person, which creates a great deal of the ass-hattery we see online.
It's not a complete answer, but it's an insight of sorts, to the behaviors I have seen and dealt with of intensive internet users. I work as technical support consultant for a major Canadian communications company, specifically with their internet tech department. You would be surprised who the most emotional/irrational customers are, not the ones who lose valuble business time or important services, it's the ones who are addicted to their chat programs and MMO's (Massive Multiplayer Online).
|
|
|
|
