IRL and URL

Because of the pandemic, my social life increasingly became more online focused. I learned how to navigate the online game and make friends through the internet. I first met a few of my close friends on the internet and we kept in touch for months before finally meeting eachother in person.

During my South America trip, I wanted to swing the pendulum from online-first relationships and experiences to in real life relationships and experiences. I put my online life on pause, uninstalling Discord, Twitter, Linkedin, and initially Instagram until I realized it was the go to social media to exchange with friends during travel.

It was amazing making friends, exploring the world, and being present. But I did miss my online life. In particular, I missed making online friends. The online friends I made were weird, just like me, and inherently curious. Whether they reached out to me, or I to them, we were both pre-screened as we both new of eachother’s interests based on our twitter feeds or websites.

Moving forward, there needs to be a balance between my online and in-person life. Ultimately, I want my online life to enhance my in person life.