Friday, November 11, 2005

The Pitfalls of Chatting Online

I have had friends I have chatted with online for many many years, some come, some go, and always, always, there is that margin of error in reading what you think it says and not getting what the writer intended. You only read into what you want to read. Some friends last less than a minute, some last more than 5 years (my australian friend, who is there when I am suffering from insomnia). There is the wide gammut of the in between folks.
I almost lost my new friend the other day... and for no good reason that I could see, we weren't reading what we wanted to read, or were we, into the conversation.
Yes we are down to less than 7 days, and for him even less due to the fact he loses a day when he flies home.
Anyway, the pitfalls of chatting online are numerous.. just as you are reading this, it is the same. You may think I am being sarcastic, or serious, or not serious at all, depending on what is going on in your little head. It really sucks... so to alleviate that misunderstanding before you really know anything at all about someone, I usually try to meet someone as soon as possible... which when they live half way around the world, it is very, VERY, difficult to know the other's sense of humor, abilitiy to use sarcasm, or create a light joking atmosphere... and make sure your audience knows where you are coming from..
Caveat Emptor

No comments: