Morpheus (to Neo): “Welcome to the real world.”
-The Matrix
Do not dismiss the power of an online community. This realm is full of real people, living real lives in real time.
Recently, tragedy struck too close to home. MAJ Andrew Olmsted published his final post. As part of my “real” (paying) job, I monitor military online networks and blogs. Through these forums I have a connection with the “front line” and discover their true needs and wants. I have followed MAJ Olmsted for over a year and read his trials and tribulations, but never did any situation in any blog feel as “real” as his final post.
“This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits. And so, like G’Kar, I must say here what I would much prefer to say in person. I want to thank hilzoy for putting it up for me. It’s not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn’t hesitate to accept the charge.” …
Cypher: “All I do is what he tells me to do. If I had to choose between that and the Matrix, I’d choose the Matrix.”
Trinity: “The Matrix isn’t real.
Cypher: “I disagree, Trinity. I think that the Matrix can be more real than this world. All I do is pull the plug here, but there…you have to watch Apoc die.”
-The Matrix
Serving a military community, death is not a foreign topic for me. It is difficult to get a grip on the fact that this online being/”friend”/acquaintance/customer is gone and their digital voice silenced. The absence of sound is deafaning. Some people leave digital footprints on your heart. MAJ Olmsted was one of those people in my life.
Agent Smith: “You hear that Mr. Anderson?…That is the sound of inevitability… It is the sound of your death… Goodbye, Mr. Anderson…”
Neo: “My name… is Neo.”
-The Matrix
This week I witnessed an extraordinary account of an online community becoming an unstoppable force of gratitude, respect and tribute.
Twitter member, http://twitter.com/ashPEAmama passed away in a tragic car accident.
@Queenof Spain asks the Twitter community - What can we do for Ashley’s family? Twittering.ning.com, jumps on it. Within hours a Twitter remembrance avatar and site for donationsare created; messages of condolence and relief are passed immediately through personal networks. Ashley was a “real” person who established strong emotional connections virtually.
“As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose. Perhaps I take that further than most, I don’t know. I hope so. It’s frightening to think there are many people as neurotic as I am in the world. In any case, since I won’t get another chance to say what I think, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Such as it is.” - MAJ Olmsted
Silly avatars, spammers and accounts of flogging overshadow the majority of people participating in social media. If ever you doubt the people online are not real, come back here for a dose of reality. These communities/villages are lightning in a bottle.
Trinity: “Neo…nobody has ever done this before.”
Neo: “That why it’s going to work.”
-The Matrix
January 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
A touching story, and a sad one. Milbloggers have brought a great dose of reality to the this war, and have humanized armed forces like we have not seen before. Thanks for sharing this account.
January 10th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Though, for the most part, we’re just type to each other in the social media we follow and participate in — those type, those words can greatly affect us. In my previous job, I also researched and monitored a number of milblogs, and even after the project and moving on to a new job, there are a few milblogs I still follow for my own personal interest.
There was a milblog in which the author’s wife was diagnosed with and later died of cancer. The author posted a lot of the process (wife’s teatments and their move back to the states with their young children). While I’m sure it was part therapeutic for him, it was definitely emotional for me and others.
“If ever you doubt the people online are not real, come back here for a dose of reality.” — That is an excellent line, Lauren, and one we should never forget. We’re not just keystrokes online; there are real people behind those keyboards, wherever they are.
Mike
January 10th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Geoff - if someone has lost faith in the ‘goodness’ of people tell them to hang out in a few online communities for awhile. I don’t think the caring and immediate response is unique to online community participants but it does show the need and “heart” to connect people-to-people. Does that make sense?
January 10th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Mike: Right on…without actually hearing or seeing the person behind the avatar (of course this is changing) it is too easy to forget there is a person behind the type.
Toby: Makes perfect sense. Close knit communities/neighborhoods are not so common anymore as people shift their lives online. No matter the landscape, the human need for interaction is a constant.