Is proximity a necessary prerequisite to building a connection?
One of the questions I struggle with is whether or not it is possible for people to connect without physically meeting. At Facebook, it was assumed that people didn’t become closely connected unless they had met face-to-face under “trusted” conditions. However, it has become apparent to me that people are connecting online and becoming quite close. Virtual devices have become more apt at helping people build relationships online and at mirroring real interaction.
But is it that people of the younger generation are becoming more comfortable with virtual interaction or that the Internet is becoming more accepted amongst all demographics? I would argue that the younger generation is simply more accepting of using the internet to build and maintain relationships. The people that are 19 now were the first to use AOL Chatrooms in the mainstream. Many contest that they have built relationships online through Internet applications and games.
My roommate actually invited a friend to spend the weekend in California he had met in high school through his favorite game Asheron’s Call. Sure enough, his friend flew in from Dallas and spent the weekend playing Halo 3 and talking as if they had met in person many times before. To my surprise, Scott and Kyle had never seen each other’s faces — they had only talked online.
Maybe the means by which we connect with people is changing — it seems as though the past four to six years have been a major inflection point in how the internet is perceived for building relationships. Fewer people attribute Chatrooms and meeting online to creepiness. Games have been a great place to meet people because they connect people that both love playing games. I think that the reason we haven’t seen more people meeting online is not because it is still perceived as creepy, but because there is no utility that correctly introduces people to each other.