I made a post about some of my views regarding interacting with others online, and I’ve posted it at Otaku Crush. Being an Otaku Dating and Social Networking Site and all, I think it’s the ideal venue for this sort of thing.
Feel free to comment to this post or the one at Otaku Crush, and tell me what you think.
OGIUE MANIAX 
TBH, I’ve read a lot of posts like this one, and I think some people just don’t do enough WITH their text to make it more voiceable. I take a lot of time on my blog to throw in italics, case changes, bold parts, highlighted words, tons of expressive smilies and ‘lols’ to set a real tone for what I’m saying. As such, I think it’s easier for people to see exactly where I’m coming from – and I have been known to be far more expressive through writing than I am in person, because I naturally try to protect my emotions by keeping a poker face and talking in a moderate monotone.
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One thing I neglected to point out in the post was that I think being able to express your feelings and opinions well is definitely possible through the internet, and that it is more than possible to make close friends and share your emotions with those around you. It might even come easier to you than in reality because perhaps you’re better with written words than spoken ones. But the most important thing here is not writing talent so much as it is the willingness to put your heart on your sleeve, and that can be a difficult task if others are not willing to do the same.
The big thing about meeting someone in person is not that you get to see who they “really are,” but that once you’ve seen them, it’s difficult to go back to imagining them purely as the words they throw out onto the web. And then by extension, you start to not examine their words and the meaning behind their words less in extremes and more in the subtle gradations that actually make up most human thought.
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Smilies can be such a double-edged blade. Different people can perceive same smilies differently. Try writing the same smiley face with different font families and then try to perceive just what kind of emotions you could portray with it.
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I agree that smilies and lols can be misinterpreted. If you have already made someone mad with your words, they’ll miss a :) at the end that shows you might have intended something ironically or not srsly.
The internet is not unlike print media of the past (especially pre-tv and film). Things were intense, for instance, in the pamphlet wars of the eighteenth century (and they didn’t have lols either…)
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I posted a reply on the article itself, but seeing a comment here made me remember another point I should make.
“but that once you’ve seen them, it’s difficult to go back to imagining them purely as the words they throw out onto the web…”
I don’t know Baka-Raptor personally, but I understand him more than most bloggers out there. Sure, he comes across very well in his writing. But I think him physically appearing in a few videos he posted online helps tremendously. Seeing the person Baka-Raptor — even though it’s not in real life — helps me better identify with him.
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Yes, I think seeing Baka-Raptor’s videos gives you a better sense of what he’s trying to do in his blog, but it still doesn’t really tell you what kind of guy he is. I shared a hotel room with him, and he still managed to surprise me, just because his online thing isn’t really to be his ‘real’ self so much at all.
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I certainly won’t come to really, really know Baka via a few online videos. But I can get a better grip on his online persona (the facet of him I’m actually interacting with). So even though that too has its limits, every little bit helps bridge the gap.
You too have put yourself out there more than others (myself obviously included), so I think that does help draw people to you and your blog. Just a thought.
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