I fell off the wagon for a couple of days (or took a hiatus for my birthday), whichever....
I just found out today that a college classmate of mine died today. She was less than a year older than me. I didn't know her well, and had only superficially reconnected with her via Facebook recently. It was through that same network that I heard about her passing, and left a condolence note on her wall for her friends and family to see.
I often see recriminations of the inappropriateness of online communication: that it is insufficient and puerile, that it cheapens friendships, or that it does not foster deeper connections and understanding. In many ways, those criticisms do hold truth, but they forget the benefit of collected communication, however superficial it may be. Through that forum, there can be a collective wake in geographic diversity. I will continue to value online connections, no matter how pale they seem in comparison to in-face interactions.
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Modern mobiity allows us all to spread out and move around a lot, separating us from family and friends that would normally be a central part of our lives. Technology like email and Facebook can do a lot to bridge that gap, almost making geography irrelevant to maintaining both personal and professional relationships. Can technology ever fully replace face-to-face communication? I doubt it. But it does help us maintain ties in a world where we're all so geographically dispersed.
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