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Do you refer to non-Internet activities as "real life"?

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posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 07:25 PM
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It's very common in my experience to label non-Internet activities "real life." Do you do that?

I believe that's a profound question because if you refer to non-Internet activities as "real life", aren't you implying that the Internet is make believe?

I've been involved in a little "online romance" and I can say that those experiences had a huge impact on my life. They were make-believe in a certain sense. I never met the people I was involved with in real life (there I go...) and I never spoke to them on the phone. However, chatting and doing certain activities with them online impacted me deeply. The emotions I felt were strong. Sometimes they were as strong as anything I've felt.

I would say anonymous Internet message boards are the realm of basically total make believe. I've thought of places like this as anonymous group therapy sessions without a leader. That's really cool but let's be realistic about what's happening here.

As for blogs and social media, it's almost total make believe IMHO. Without professional fact-checking or a legal department or professional editors there's little credibility in my experience.

When it comes to professional media online, I would imagine few here would look at most of that as being anything but make believe.
edit on 16-11-2015 by Profusion because: (no reason given)



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 07:34 PM
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a reply to: Profusion

No. For me, my association with the internet constitutes real-life, albeit an online versus off-line version of it.

Other than my usual online work-related email activities, ATS constitutes about 90% of my online life, the other 10% being perusing sites I find interesting.

My online life is about 30% of my overall daily life, sometimes more, sometimes less.

All part of the digital age I suppose.




posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 07:46 PM
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a reply to: Profusion

I'm the strange me every where and all the time.

That's the thing entirely.

Cheers on the track!






posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 07:56 PM
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Using the term real-life to refer to real life is common for MMO players, especially those engage in some RP. See, when you role play, you take on a character role and chat as though you are a person engaging in life within the realm of the game.

So, using real life is often used to separate references to actual activities you will be engaging in that could be confused with something you referred to in a role play manner.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:10 PM
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a reply to: Profusion


if you refer to non-Internet activities as "real life", aren't you implying that the Internet is make believe?

Not at all. The internet is where I find out whats really going on 'out there'. In contrast, my 'real life' is everyday boring compared to all that.


edit on 16-11-2015 by intrptr because: change



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:17 PM
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Both are part of our lives. Maybe the real answer is digital/biological.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:18 PM
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a reply to: Profusion

I always thought "in real life" pertained to online interactions, as well. For me, I call this online and I call the world off-line "meat space". Both are a part of "real life".



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:24 PM
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a reply to: Profusion

i'll be the first to raise my hand when its asked "how many people here have pretended, even for a few moments, to be someone entirely different while using the internet?" there's even a song about it by brad paisley. the world as translated by the internet is a bit like bugs bunny as compared to an actual rabbit. its way too easy to blur the line between having a life and having a digital presence.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:29 PM
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a reply to: TzarChasm

Not me. I'm the same online as off. And yes, I'm as mouthy as Foghorn Leghorn. Ask anyone if you can get a word in.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:31 PM
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originally posted by: TzarChasm
i'll be the first to raise my hand when its asked "how many people here have pretended, even for a few moments, to be someone entirely different while using the internet?"


Lying on the internet would probably be even harder than doing it offline where, for the habitual liar, nothing is written down for humanity to see in perpetuity.

I find it much easier to just be myself in both cases. A jackass.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:35 PM
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Yes I do.

Unless I'm paying my bills online....then it gets very real.




posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:40 PM
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I do differentiate between the two, and while I don't interact here a ton, I have formed a couple sound friendships. One has become something of a "best friend" to me, with nearly daily interaction. We'll likely never meet, and that is ok, but have formed an extremely strong bond. I find it easier to be open with my online friends.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:45 PM
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a reply to: intrepid

I have in the sense that I have RPed in an MMO setting.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 08:56 PM
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originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: TzarChasm

i'll be the first to raise my hand when its asked "how many people here have pretended, even for a few moments, to be someone entirely different while using the internet?"




Lying on the internet would probably be even harder than doing it offline where, for the habitual liar, nothing is written down for humanity to see in perpetuity.



I find it much easier to just be myself in both cases. A jackass.
but thats exactly what makes it so easy to lie on the internet. for a lot of people, its an escape thing, a distraction.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 09:10 PM
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No, I spend so little time on the internet, and I won't use a smart phone or text, it's all real life to me.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 09:38 PM
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a reply to: TzarChasm

Sooner or later those lies are going to catch up with you just like they will in real life though ... unless you're a Clinton.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 09:40 PM
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As a sometimes day trader and online holdem poker player with real money...my on line life is often to "real"



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 11:01 PM
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a reply to: Profusion

The reality is we are sitting, and for the most part, alone. It's not much different than any activity in which you are propped up and looking at a screen. Any "experience" you have other than reading, typing and whatever else you physically do while sitting there, is the result of your imagination.



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 11:36 PM
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Us staff probably spend the most time on here, and its not unusual to get "saturated'. I've had to take a few days "off" from ATS just to get things done around the house, clear my head, take care of family ... ect, ect.

Real life, online life...it's really all the same. I think we just use "real life" as a differentiating word -- not as some indication that what we do here online isn't real. There's the acronym "IRL" (in real life) that people use all the time, and its generally understood to mean "not on the internet".



posted on Nov, 16 2015 @ 11:48 PM
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originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: Profusion

The reality is we are sitting, and for the most part, alone. It's not much different than any activity in which you are propped up and looking at a screen. Any "experience" you have other than reading, typing and whatever else you physically do while sitting there, is the result of your imagination.


I'm glad there are people that have a different view than that, for example:

Cyberstalking Legislation

Are you trying to claim that it's not justified for people to feel afraid and threatened when they're being cyberstalked?

Consider another example:


"Online gambling is called the crack coc aine of creating new addicted gamblers," he said. "It places gambling at every school desk, every work desk and in every living room. Does Barney Frank really want to entice people to click their mouse and lose their house?"
Online gambling a bad bet for America, U. of I. expert says


It's so easy when you're gambling to let your emotions get the best of you. Why would you think that online gamblers would experience emotions any differently than people gambling in person? Extrapolate that to an "online relationship." Why would the feelings involved online necessarily be any different than in person? Romance is a form of gambling IMHO.


I'll give you another example. I'm a little upset at the moment because I bought a product online that I don't think I'm going to use. It's something that I don't think I can sell and it can only be used online. Part of the reason I bought it is because the company selling the product offered a money back guarantee. When I asked for my money back I was refused because the company is claiming that my reason for asking for a refund violates their return policy. After reading their return policy I realized that any reason I could think of for returning one of their products would violate their return policy. Is my anger and disappointment at this moment not real? Is it just my imagination?
edit on 16-11-2015 by Profusion because: (no reason given)




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