"Love Through Zeros and Ones"
Every time an angel wanna kiss me, she always seems to miss me. Why?
"Questions" by Insane Clown Posse
The Internet is a literal "virtual playground." Anything can, has, or will be done on it. People that are normally shy and quiet in real life find somewhere to express themselves in a way that was not possible for them before. They can even create whole new personas for themselves.
The demographic that does this the most is the teenager. Now, this makes the most sense because most teens see themselves as just awkward little people not fit to see the light of day. The others who don't probably should, but are too full of themselves to do it (I'm looking at you fat chicks in belly shirts, and now I must gouge my eyes for doing so). So they flock to the net where they can interact with people and have no fear of others making fun of the way that they look because they cannot see them. They are taken at face value for who they really are, or at least how they act. Granted, that is how things in the real world should work, but I guess its just ****ed up like that. Whatever.
They meet people with similar interests. They become friends with the people who are sometimes half a world away and speak a different language. Whole new avenues of discussion are opened up to people who would normally feel like they should be secluded away like the lowest dregs of society.
Right about now, you're probably wondering where I'm going with this. Well, shut up and keep reading, because I'm bout there. There are girls on the net. I know, this may come as quite a shock to some, but it's true. Chances are, they are very outnumbered by guys, but there are some around. They're here for the same reasons as the guys; look around, check out a few things, and talk to people.
Sometimes, a guy and a girl meet on the internet and begin to talk. They realize that they have very similar interests and think the same thing about many...things (mental note, get a goddamn thesaurus). Whether it be music, book, sports, politics, that is regardless. They begin to like each other somewhat, and talk more. This general liking soon crosses the line into fondness. Okay, still nothing wrong with that. Eventually though, it soon blossoms into what makes the heart grow fonder, love.
Houston, we've got a ****ing problem.
Okay, maybe Im over exaggerating on that. However, if I had to put money down on every case, I would probably be leaving with more money won than lost. The actual thought of it does seem a bit absurd if you do break it down; having true affection for someone who is possibly another time zone away that you will never actually see face to face, and possibly will never know what they do in fact look like. Hell, they may not even be the gender that they are claiming to be, and instead of Jill, the fifteen year old girl from Tennessee that you've fallen for could really be Biff, the overweight and often way too sweaty forty-five year old steel worker from Chicago who uses the name Srfer_Grrrl68. Granted, an extreme case of course, but still very plausible...
PICS. NOW.
You've been talking to each other for some time now. We'll say...six months. One of you gets curious and wants to see what the other one looks like. What do you do; give them a picture of yourself, or do you find a picture of someone else and say that it's you? There is the third option of saying that you can't give them one right now, so maybe they could give you one of them. Then the question cycle begins in their head.
Finally, one of you caves in. For the sake of saking things (WTF?), you are the one who gives a picture of yourself to the other person. You anxiously wait their reaction. Oh, what will they think? Will they still like me? At first, everything goes on like it ever did. You breathe a sigh of relief because you didnt know how they would react.
More time passes. How about a week and a half; that sound okay? Good. You've been noticing some changes in your true love. They seem distant compared to how they were. The conversations don't have the luster that they once did, and youre wondering whats going on. You question them about it, and they get defensive and a touch confrontational. The more you press the issue, the worse they get. Finally, with Matlock-like deduction, the obvious answer hits you in the face like a steel chair:
They have finally seen the person that they fell for, and they don't like what they saw.
...yeah, that was a bit harsh, but that's what it comes down to. Maybe it is the blunt answer. Maybe they didn't quite picture the description that you gave of yourself correctly. Whatever the reason is, it comes down to that now that they've seen who they are talking to, they no longer want to talk to you so much.
You already told me that
The only thing that you can do with someone else on the net for the most part is talk to them, or type to them if you want to get really specific about it. In the life of the average kid, there's only so much that they've done so far, and only so much they actually talk about. In the span of months after talking to the same person over and over and over and over and stop it okay, you run out of things to say to each other. You start talking about the same thing again and again, and eventually the conversations become shorter and shorter eventually they just slowly start to die and thus, the affection begins to dwindle with it.
OFMG, *tuches boobes* LOLZ ( . )( . )
The main thing for almost any relationship after communication and understanding is physical contact. Even just being in the corporeal presence of someone dear to you can be extremely meaningful. It can be something as small as holding hands or something along those lines, and you know the rest of it, so I won't even bother covering it. This is where the cyber relationship falls completely flat on its ass. There is no physical contact between people at all. Sure, you can do dumb little things like *assorted action*, but thats about all. I guess you could let your imagination do a great deal of it, but c'mon, eventually you have to realize that it's idiotic.
You could even go down to the lowest level of the internet and have cyber sex. Now that is just goddamn stupid. Just you, a keyboard, mouse, one hand, and a bottle of hand lotion. Uh...no thanks. I prefer to try to do as little reading as possible when making the sweet love down by the fire. The only other option would be to scan your genitalia and email it to each other and...wait, why do I even know about doing that?
****...
Bottom Line
Yes, it can work for some. I know people that met over the web and got married. However, for everyone one of them, there are thousands of others who end up the same way I illustrated. You just have to make sure youre careful out there. How do you do that? No simple answer for that one. If there was, then the bad cases wouldn't be happening. That's the thing about the net; even in the one place where how you look doesn't matter, but what is in your mind and in your heart, and sometimes even that is not enough. Just remember that while it might seem nice while its happening, the fragile world that has been built over fiber optic cables can shatter in an instant.
Cruel things can occur when the x's and o's that you give to someone are zeros and ones.
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