All Eyes On You
Dec. 11th, 2006 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlI had the strangest experience last night. There are a few LJers who aren't on my friends list, but whose journals I read every now and again. They aren't anyone I know, they're just people I've stumbled upon and have found interesting enough to visit once in a while but not interesting enough to add to my friends list.
Anyway, as I was walking through Penn Station last night I saw one of these people! This guy who has posted enough pictures of himself that I totally recognized him on sight. I saw him and automatically thought "Hey, that's So-and-So." There was no doubt in my mind; same face, same hair, same build, same height, same style of dress.
It was so weird. On one hand I felt that my recognition of him established some sort of familiarity between us, one that would permit me to approach and say hello, but on the other hand I was very aware of the fact that I didn't know him and he doesn't know me. He doesn't even know I read his journal. Yet, there I was seeing him, recognizing him, and running through the list of all the things I know about him.
This is why I keep picture posts friends locked, but...it's a bizarre thought, that there might be someone out there reading your journal, someone you aren't aware of, someone who might know you on sight. Some stranger who feels you two share a connection based solely on the fact that they read stuff you write. It seems so stalkerish. But...it adds an interesting dimension to online life, doesn't it? We think of it as being so separate from "real life." But we are really connecting and reaching out to others. We are speaking to them and they are listening. They are paying attention. And they may see you in the street one day and react as if they are seeing a celebrity or seeing a friend. Or, they could be like me and take a nice long stare before going into the subway.
Anyway, as I was walking through Penn Station last night I saw one of these people! This guy who has posted enough pictures of himself that I totally recognized him on sight. I saw him and automatically thought "Hey, that's So-and-So." There was no doubt in my mind; same face, same hair, same build, same height, same style of dress.
It was so weird. On one hand I felt that my recognition of him established some sort of familiarity between us, one that would permit me to approach and say hello, but on the other hand I was very aware of the fact that I didn't know him and he doesn't know me. He doesn't even know I read his journal. Yet, there I was seeing him, recognizing him, and running through the list of all the things I know about him.
This is why I keep picture posts friends locked, but...it's a bizarre thought, that there might be someone out there reading your journal, someone you aren't aware of, someone who might know you on sight. Some stranger who feels you two share a connection based solely on the fact that they read stuff you write. It seems so stalkerish. But...it adds an interesting dimension to online life, doesn't it? We think of it as being so separate from "real life." But we are really connecting and reaching out to others. We are speaking to them and they are listening. They are paying attention. And they may see you in the street one day and react as if they are seeing a celebrity or seeing a friend. Or, they could be like me and take a nice long stare before going into the subway.
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Date: 2006-12-11 07:38 pm (UTC)Wow, this here internet is a place of great power and great insanity.