Are Online Spaces destroying social interaction?
Social media and live streaming have made themselves prominent in the majority of our lives and has become a norm in our society. It has created jobs, a new era of celebrities and increased the popularity in E-sports and gaming in general. However, for some who is introverted, it’s given me a place to make friends.
From a young age, I was always told “ don’t talk to people on the internet, you don’t know who they are, they all want to harm you” and I’m thankful I never listened to the advice.
Throughout Secondary school I was typically very introverted, I knew a lot of people but I was not as good at making friends hang out with so I spent a majority of my time online. I was thirteen when I first discovered Twitch, a video streaming platform where people can do whatever they feel like and stream it to an audience. I remember finding a small creator through their recommended feature, she had around three viewers and was playing Minecraft. I began watching and in the first few minutes, I was in hysterics. I noticed the chat feature on the left side and plucked up some courage to say “Hi” and in response, I was met with the warmest “Hello!” I’ll ever receive. We spoke for hours on various topics but most importantly we bonded over our love for superhero comics, she was a Marvel fangirl while I, on the other hand, loved DC. It felt like a video call with an old friend.
Every day I’d return to her stream and every day we would talk, through each other, we met new people and made new friendships, we introduced each other to new things, new games and would often rant to each other about life, all while never having met. I’ve known her for seven years now and I have watched and supported her through amazing things, sponsorships with companies like McDonald’s, partnership with Twitch, E-sport competitions and each time I was always so proud of my friend. This year I now help edit her videos and publish them to her various social media platforms, if it were not for this friendship I would have never had found a job that I loved.
Twitch also has allowed me to find safe spaces that are primarily for minorities and allies. Being able to share and listen to stories from other LGBTQ+ members allowed me to not feel so alone and it was through twitch and their LGBTQ+ tag system that I was and meet friends that I never would have in the real world.
We can not of course ignore the blatant worries and concerns behind online friendships, with shows like “Catfish” and “How to catch a predator” documenting the horrors that the online can have, even I would say I have an “online persona”. Thus, children should, of course, be taught the importance of online safety, however, it should be modernised, my nephew is shown the same “online safety” video that I was shown as a child. The online world is scary, but it can also be somewhere beautiful. I have seen artists share tips, books are shared and support be given where people need it.
The online world offered me and many others a place to go when we felt alone, a place to feel welcome. I’ve some amazing people, people who will support me and help me wherever they can. Just this year I will be travelling to San Diego with a bunch of online friends to finally meet each other.
