Is it just me...

[Illuminess]

or does everyone you come out to seem to completely forget you ever said anything? After picking people out individually to tell them what I'm up to and why, weeks later and it's like we never discussed anything.

Also... do people seem to not value friendship nearly as much anymore? I have several people that I would consider to be very special to me, but never do I ever hear from them. We "like" and comment on each other's Facebook posts here and there, but I never once get a message asking me if I want to hang out. Really, there's only one person who actively shows interest in my company, and another I live with, but people that I've known for 15 years or more just seem to have ceased existing physically and are all now just ghosts in the machine.

I don't have the most active and social life. I'd like to. Actually, since moving back to Texas, I've sort of fallen right in the middle of a commune of sorts. It's a house, but five other people live here. I don't have anything in common with any of them, though. They're all at least five years younger than me, caught up in the farce of saying "hashtag" out loud, saying "like" every other word, and would probably rather talk about video games and sex toys than anything philosophical. Only one person here — other than my friend whose house this is — do I talk to regularly, and even she has the attention span and tolerance of a teenager too busy with their iPhones and online personas for anything contemplative.

I grew up hanging out with real people in real places. Even when I got online for the first time at 17 (the beginning of AOL) everyone I met in an IM or a chat room I'd eventually meet in real life. Now it seems we are willing participants in The Matrix.

It makes you appreciate those times as a kid when adults would say "when I was your age" and follow that up with a reference to a less pretentious, more down-to-earth period of time. I'm officially getting old.

[suzifrommd]

I've noticed that too. Some people are REALLY uncomfortable with the subject and won't talk about it, even when I bring it up. Maybe they're afraid to say something wrong or maybe they deep down disapprove, but for whatever reason some of my friends pretend nothing is happening.

As for personal contact, in the 21st century, there's no time for that. We are too busy checking our twitter feeds, catching up with facebook, reading comments on tumblr and replying to posts on Susan's Place.

I agree with you that personal contact needs to be more highly valued.

[Illuminess]

I've noticed that too. Some people are REALLY uncomfortable with the subject and won't talk about it, even when I bring it up. Maybe they're afraid to say something wrong or maybe they deep down disapprove, but for whatever reason some of my friends pretend nothing is happening.

As for personal contact, in the 21st century, there's no time for that. We are too busy checking our twitter feeds, catching up with facebook, reading comments on tumblr and replying to posts on Susan's Place.

I agree with you that personal contact needs to be more highly valued.

I think the online social medium is a very valuable thing. I wouldn't have much of an outlet without it, because I get my thoughts across far better in "written" word than I do spoken. Still, there's nothing like spending a day with a good friend. Going for coffee, going to shops, walking around a park, and getting to see facial expressions and body language. As easy as it may be to be fluent when typing you still can't make sarcasm obvious, and when you might be saying something in a calm and pleasant state of mind someone else might think you're upset or aggressive.

The only reason I have as much time as I do to hang around here or to blog my brains out is because everyone else is doing something similar. The difference with me is that I don't have a day job, so I sit alone a lot. Even when there's people home nobody comes in to say hi or have a chat. I don't need them to, but it would be nice.

I had an idea for a cafe or a lounge where you go to a computer, fill out a profile, and set a certain amount of time that you intend to be there, and then you can login to see who's there. If someone seems interesting enough then you can approach them in person and start a dialog. Maybe even a Tinder kind of option where you can notify them that you're interested. Then you'll have a little bit of an intro to who they are and what their interests are which makes ice-breaking so much easier. It's not even really about matchmaking, just a mixing of mediums so you get your online fix and real-time socialising in one place. Too bad I don't have the money or the business sense to make such a place.

[Cin]

I hate being the one who has to say "Hi!" all the time. When I start a conversation, it lasts for a while, and I get to a point where I think I really know someone (Either online or offline)..... and it suddenly stops... and then a week later, they see me, and don't even say Hi! or say Hi! and then walk away like nothing ever happened, like we're complete strangers.