2008-09-19, 11:24 PM
I think differently than most other people, but I'm serious when I say that I personally think that the internet can have an affect on people. Why? Because I myself have experienced or went through a change, which doesn't necessarily mean that every other person will experience the same, but it's just what I experienced.
When I was in my preteen years, I used to be like those kids that types and completely abused "lol!" and 1337-speak. I could care less about grammar back then.. now, I do. Because as I grew up and realized that in order for people to take me seriously, I have to type and act seriously. Also, these people on the internet aren't robots.. they're actual, living people. That's what I've learned as I interacted with the internet-community. Sure, most adults in our current generation would say "Talking with strangers on the internet is bad", but is it really any different than approaching a random person in real life and starting a conversation? To me, it isn't, aside from the fact that you get to see their appearance.
You can also judge a person's level of intelligence and maturity judging by how they react to situations on the internet, and how they type too. Which isn't always true for everyone, but most of the time, it is imo. One can express themselves better on the internet as well. What a person wouldn't normally do in real life, sometimes, they tend to express themselves a lot better on the internet.
I'm sure from experiences, people grow and they change ; From experiences, people mature and move on with their life and remember the things that made them change as well.
I actually consider some people that I met online as really close friends, even if I don't chat with them for a while, I try to check up on them every once or so to see how they are doing. So by interacting with others on the internet, believe it or not, a person can mature more. This is the real world, afterall. Whether it be the internet, or not.
When I was in my preteen years, I used to be like those kids that types and completely abused "lol!" and 1337-speak. I could care less about grammar back then.. now, I do. Because as I grew up and realized that in order for people to take me seriously, I have to type and act seriously. Also, these people on the internet aren't robots.. they're actual, living people. That's what I've learned as I interacted with the internet-community. Sure, most adults in our current generation would say "Talking with strangers on the internet is bad", but is it really any different than approaching a random person in real life and starting a conversation? To me, it isn't, aside from the fact that you get to see their appearance.
You can also judge a person's level of intelligence and maturity judging by how they react to situations on the internet, and how they type too. Which isn't always true for everyone, but most of the time, it is imo. One can express themselves better on the internet as well. What a person wouldn't normally do in real life, sometimes, they tend to express themselves a lot better on the internet.
I'm sure from experiences, people grow and they change ; From experiences, people mature and move on with their life and remember the things that made them change as well.
I actually consider some people that I met online as really close friends, even if I don't chat with them for a while, I try to check up on them every once or so to see how they are doing. So by interacting with others on the internet, believe it or not, a person can mature more. This is the real world, afterall. Whether it be the internet, or not.