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Do You Really Want to Meet People on the Web?
Wolfspelz writes "Do you want to meet people on Web pages? The Jabber Virtual Presence project makes people aware of each other on the Web. Just like you are aware of other people in the real world anywhere you go, the virtual presence makes you aware of others on the same virtual locations. The project uses Jabber/XMPP as the transport protocol for virtual presence. Jabber conference components serve as presence servers. The code is GPL/LGPL. The Virtual Presence Protocol extensions are open and documented. The virtual presence system including the LLuna2 client is designed to protect the privacy and prohibit any indecent use, be it commercial use, advertising, or profiling. But: do you want to meet people on the Web at all?"
Being aware of other people in real life is what makes me nervous and bashful. It's a Sartrean thing.
While definately not the most obvious use of this software, it could prove interesting on sites such as /., cnn, salon etc. to talk live to others about an article. Posting comments is fine, but it's not live, and it could be days before anyone responds.
It's certainly not something you'd leave running all the time.
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NSFWWould much rather ask someone looking at the same website as me if they have seen what I'm looking for, instead of a site map.
And no.. I dont go walking around the grocery store asking strangers where the broccoli is..
I've met people socially who I met online, some were freaks and some were decent well adjusted people. It's the same as meeting people in the real world.
I'll admit that I have a bit of social anxiety in person and it's easier for me to start a conversation with a total stranger online and to subsequently dip out on the conversation if I don't like the tone or direction :).
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A program called virtual places allowed you to surf the web and meet people 9 years ago.
And then AOL bought it and killed it.
cat sig >
but not through some random chat-roomish sort of way. I operate some discussion boards and have met some really nice people with whom I have something in common.
I was introduced to my wife through an e-mail from a mutual friend who I would not have know without the Internet. The Internet is a perfectly valid way to meet people, but not in a singles bar sort of way.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
I'm always puzzled by this sort of reaction. In what way is meeting on a Web page any less "real" than meeting at a bus stop or over the phone? The other person is just as real.
Why, yes, I believe we do! Small Internet. :-D
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Thats kind of a blanket statement that seems to be purely biased, and lacking some heavy proof. To imply that people who utilize the Internet for social interaction as lacking a life is also a very blanket statement - that is again, purely unfounded and lacking proof. I hang on the Internet for social interaction (as well as informational purposes). Some of the social interaction comes from playing online games which I prefer to non-online games; I also go to clubs, bars, park, movies, coffee shops, beach, vacations, etc. So do I lack a life or do I have a life? Your statements, unfortunately, are totally ignorant. I do not claim to be an "expert" on many topics - but this one I can claim a lot of knowledge on, especially since I have spent many qualified research hours (including studies) with regards to Internet social interactions (Communications major). Then again, you do have valid - reliable evidence stating that most people on the internet social groups are the equivelant of Trabant owners and complain incessantly about not having a Mercedes?
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
Personal experience here. . .I'm getting married in ten days. And I met my partner on the internet.
If you're busy with work and so on, and you don't necessarily find fighting your way through alco-pop fuelled teenage cretins at the local theme bar to meet the opposite sex, the internet can be a great way of meeting and getting to know people.
I found it really useful - I was able to talk to people without masses of background noise, and get to know a bit about them _before_ I made the decision to actually meet up with them.
Three months of regular dates and I ended up meeting the woman of my dreams - she even administers a Web portal!
So I guess, from my experience, I'd say - go for it.
"This is your life - and it's ending one minute at a time" - Narrator, Fight Club
Despite my rants elsewhere about the unreality of the "real world" concept, I'd have to say no. I do not have any unfulfilled desire to meet people on the 'net (or anywhere else). I meet people all the time, netwise and otherwise, and I find this sufficient.
I always see the jokes about the futility of meeting girls online. Maybe this misperception that girls are not online is part of the problem! I know quite a few "hot" girls and they all use IM, email, and mobile phone text messaging EXTENSIVELY. Like way more than any geek I know.
Hahaha..
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I am working with a team of people to extend FOAF and social networks to help you "keep-track" of your current friends and what it going on with them. I.e. current GPS coordinates, utilizing the MeNowDocument at http://schema.peoplesdns.com/menow/ (which I co-authored) and auto-updating FOAF data through the web for everything from current pictures to current locations (you can even go as far as scripting in which mp3 you are listening to or what webpage you are browsing and this all is updated automatically)
Anyway, it is not just about "meeting" people (I could care less about meeting new friends, I have enough friends and can barely keep up with them) it is really about organizing them.
See my
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
If I'm communicating with someone that I know in the real world I consider online communications to be real-world communications.
If I'm communicating with someone that I have never met, I consider that to not be real-world and for the communications themselves to be nothing more than a network game.
When I was a kid I was in the online = real world camp. To put it shortly, it was not good for me. I trusted the wrong people and believed the wrong things and fortunately I came out of it without being killed.
Anyone have success using the net to meet people who are geographically local? I moved recently to the remote outskirts of a metro area, and have been trying to use the net as one of the ways to meet people who might have friendship potential. I've looked at IRC, but had no luck finding channels that aggregate people by locale. I don't want to post on a match-making service, as I'm not after a relationship. Any stories of success out there?
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
There are obvious advantages to meeting in person - body interactions, voice inflections, etc. I agree that it is easier to read people in person (and sometimes damn near impossible to read people online). Thank you for saying I may be a nice person...I like to think that I am. (my name is Avi). I do meet many people face - face, I utilize a blend of both online and offline. Everyone needs to find the niche that works for them. My problem comes around when people assume that online engagements are sub-par. Good luck to you, and enjoy a good room temperature beer for me :)
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
"I can't use my intuition to determine this because there IS no presence."
Not true. You'd be surprised how hard it is to be convincing about anything on-line. I'll never forget when this guy was bugging me for ops. He tried to lure a favor from me by pretending to be female. "I have big hooters!" Yeah, that's exactly how women talk.
"I don't believe in on-line presence."
Again, I think you'd be surprised. Heck, look at Slashdot. We've got some real characters here. Go check out the forums. People very much settle on identity.
Maybe I'm just a titch biased. I owe my having a girlfriend and a job to having an on-line presence. I met my gf of the last 3 years via an IRC get-together. My prescence on the CGTalk.com forums got me noticed. A new studio went up and they needed another artist. Noboody's disappointed yet.
"Derp de derp."
For people like me who are socially retarded, the internet is a wonderful place to meet people. I've been meeting people from the net for the past 5 or 6 years, and I haven't had a single bad experience. It was exciting to finally meet and hang out with people who shared the same interests as me. Face it, when you're a total computer nerd with elitest tastes in music, people who share those interests are pretty few and far between. What better way to meet people with those interests than, say, a forum for one of your favorite bands?
So far, thanks to the internet, I've met a number of amazing people. I met my first somewhat girlfriend over the net, I met a band who I ended up joining and moving out to PA to be a part of (then stole the drummer's girlfriend and had my first true love for 2 1/2 years). As recent as this week, I met a girl who I'll be travelling from my home state of MI to IN to go to a concert with.
You do get a good sense of what people are like by chatting online. You say things without inhibition. There aren't any social hangups. You don't have to worry about ackward silence. You can bail out at any time. You can say how you really feel without stuttering or blushing.