I can really only speak for myself here and the first thing I’ll say is that I prioritize offline relationships. When I’m single, or in a situation like right now where I don’t have many friends to hang out with in real life, I spend a lot of time online. Yeah, I have social issues. My social anxiety can be crippling and terrifying and makes it really difficult to meet people. I find a lot of that pressure is off online because people get to know me for me, I have more time to think about what I’m going to say, more time to react, etc.
I think any sort of addiction, whether it be a substance or WoW, has a root in a deeper issue. Most people, even though they might feel they’re addicted to the internet or to a game or to a particular website, really aren’t. It’s the ones that are, the ones who let their kid cry in the other room because they’re busy online, or they never spend any time with family and friends because they prefer the online world, that are like what your co-worker is talking about. And yes, I find that kind of addiction to be sad.
To answer the question of whether we are all misfits, I don’t think so. The internet is a giant freakshow, don’t forget that! I think, on the whole, Fluther peeps don’t come close to comparing to what I would consider ‘misfits’. Some of us have social issues, sure. I know there are a lot of introverts here, which is statistically a much higher representation in one place than in the world as a whole. It makes loads of sense that introverts would gather on a site like this! :)