Fluther’s the only social networking site I use- I rarely go on FB these days, and if I do, it’s just to email people I need to contact for this or that reason. I’m also on vacation, so the minute the school bell rings in September, my Fluther time will be considerably reduced. I won’t be able to choose- my life will be sucked into work.
I live in a very small town, so the people I know are the people I work with, and I don’t work in a friendly or safe place, which means I have to seriously be on guard all the time- inside and outside work. I can’t flip off cars, that might be a parent. I can’t talk any way I want in public, there might be a student or coworker there ready to decontextualize, twist and spread what they think they saw. I can’t let go and have a beer because I can’t afford to lose any inhibitions and have to watch every single thing I say. 5 years like this has really gotten to me and who I am—it became harder and harder to talk to my friends in other states because we lost our common ground. So my “real life” is actually what’s interfering with who I am. It’s not so much my role as a teacher, no, but the type of tense community I live in. And I don’t say this in a ‘poor me’ way- it’s what it is, just the fact of the matter.
Sooo… right now, my online life is where I’m really able to discover new things from what others say, learn new ways of interacting with people, understand people better (that I didn’t understand before). I had become really withdrawn due to the constant self-monitoring, and here in Fluther, I can let myself be me, even if I’m still a bit shy! I’m able to interact with like-minds (or not :D) with no language barriers, with intellect, and really feel like I can express myself and own what I say. It’s hard to explain, but people take the ownership of their words for granted… when you lose ownership of what you say, any opportunity to own it becomes precious. No, my online life and friendships are not interfering with my “real life,” but completely enhancing my real life.