Connections

5,654 Twitter followers, 945 Facebook friends, 1300 Orkut friends and so on. WOW! You sure must have an amazing personality to make so many friends!

Hold on for a second. These are all your virtual or online friends aren't they? What about your "Real Life" friends. Care to count those? Out of all the above friends, how many do you know personally or have interacted with offline? If you are like the most of us, I bet the answer would be 'not many' or 'only a few'.

Why is it that we connect so easily with people online and not in the real world? If you are making so many friends online then obviously you wish to make friends, to be heard and are looking to connect with people. You obviously have something interesting going on in your life or have a pleasing personality, which is why so many people are becoming friends with you online.

Why can't the same be extended to the real world? Why are we so guarded in making friends or accepting friendship from people out in the real world? Don't you find it very easy to express your feelings, to vent out your frustration or even divulge some secrets to online friends? Even if you haven't met them in the real world?

A typical online scenario. You are browsing through Facebook and come across an interesting comment by a friends friend or someone you don't know. If you feel the person is okay enough, you will not hesitate to send a friend request. More often than not, you will be added as a friend or at least will get a response back.

Now imagine doing the same in the real world. You are sitting at your favourite coffee shop. You see a nice person reading a book or wearing something that appeals to you. Or maybe you overhear their conversation and find it interesting. Would you simply walk up and say 'Hi'? I bet you won't.

If we can do it online, why can't we do it in the real world? Fear of being rejected? Lack of confidence in ourselves? Or is the answer the anonymity that the online world provides? In the online world, we can pretend to be whoever we want, whenever we want and to whomsoever we want. Does that play a major role? Does the security stem from the fact that we know that in the online world, we can simply switch off or block people if things turn uncomfortable?

Whatever be the reason, I feel that we are spending too much time connecting with people online and not in the real world. We need to start building real world relations and connections. I am not undermining the importance of the online world at all. In fact its a marvelous way to reach out and connect to people, to make friends and explore facets of a global world.

What we need to do is make these connections more 'real'. Get to really know your online friends, if possible visit them or organize OFM, "Online Friend Meetings'. When travelling, visit or call your online buddies. Make the virtual connections real. Give them a meaning.

Trust me, it will be well worth it and will enrichen your life.