Online Culture:

It’s Alive and Pulsing

There’s a debate in academia: to be human is to be offline — to soak up the sun, to live outside.

No doubt there’s truth in that stance.

But the inverse is equally true: life exists behind screens, in dark rooms, in solemn corners where individuals feel free to share their innermost turmoil and connect with others.

Why should this virtual playground be any different from the physical monkey bars and slides?

We are well past the so-called digital era.
Meaningful connections are now created, nurtured, and even lived exclusively within the virtual ether.

No academician or scholar is in a position to deny the lived experiences of sixteen-year-old Milly and her online friends.

Why are we still so hesitant to accept that the internet is real — and so are its connections?

So what if I don’t know the physical form of the person I talk to online — does that negate their existence?

Maybe it actually heightens it.


Maybe we can connect more deeply because of the absence of physical constraints.

Of course, there are limitations to connections made solely in online spaces.

But there’s also something genuine, real, and unfettered in the way people reach across borders, boundaries, and landscapes.

Living abroad no longer means isolation from one’s family.

We can now FaceTime, message, and be present virtually.

It doesn’t replace in-person communication, but it absolutely deserves to be deemed significant — because it is.

Written by Joseph Markman — exploring the human side of technology.

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