Granted, online interaction is a newer mode of socialization and may seem foreign and alienating to some, especially those newest to it.

My grandmother thought in a similar way about my mother’s use of the telephone, which was very foreign to my grandmother: “Why don’t you just go visit your friend? And see her while talking to her? Spend time with her? She only lives two houses down the street!” My mother’s use of the telephone for socialization was disturbing to her. Yet many relationships, intimate ones included, develop, evolve and solidify through frequent telephone communication. Many put frequent phone contact on their top 10 lists of means of maintaining the type of communication required for a healthy relationship.

Is online interaction so different, or is it just newer?

The whole concept of a “digital identity” sounds perplexing and perhaps very alienating, but many of us already have one whether we want one or not. I can find out lots of info about almost anyone through google searches if I’m determined enough, even if that person never published anything to the web himself. The information that exists on the internet about you and the elements of your online interaction are parts of what make up your digital identity. If we all are now acquiring digital identities (whether we like it or not), isn’t it better to learn to understand them, participate in the process, and consciously craft them ourselves?