RIP bunch
I logged onto my favorite IRC channel last night to a startling topic. The topic read: “RIP bunch, you were loved too much to be forgotten.” In a world of multiple meanings like the Internet, I wasn't sure what it meant. My first thought was that he just had his first child and wasn't going to be on IRC much anymore due to time constraints, so he said his goodbyes. The concrete sentiments in the topic read true, bunch had passed away. I was absolutely shocked. Then as I had a feeling of loss, I was shocked again.
I have been online pretty much as long as you could get onlne. I have used instant messaging or some form of it for all of that time and I have created and lost track of many online friends. I have never met, seen, or heard the voice of any of these people. But I know how they are in the morning, I know how they are in the middle of the night. I know their moods, and a lot of them, I know their schedules from day to day. Never have meeting them is no reason to not call them my friends. I enjoy my online presence and I am in no way ashamed of it.
This was the first time I have lost a friend that I knew only by a nickname. He was bunch, a nice guy that was always willing to help out people. He made a big contribution to the IRC channel I frequented and its all anyone has talked about in there. I truly feel sad that he is gone. I don't think I would have predicted that I'd have felt this way. After all, all i know from him is his text. right? Wrong.
Don't let anyone tell you that an IRC channel, a chat room, or any other online gathering isn't a community, because it is. As I read through the guestbook of signatures and goodbyes people have left for bunch, i recognize every name. After chatting in an area for a while, you begin to recognize everyone and know how they act and talk. This creates community. I'm not a geek cause I do this, I have plenty of friends. Hell, if it wasn't for instant messaging I don't think i would have kept up with a lot of my friends from high school. The ones that I still talk to are online. Its not because I'm lazy. Its because its so easy to keep in contact with someone when they are in a window in the top corner. I work all day and they are there. I'm very glad for that.
As I babble along, I just want to make a point that community comes in many forms, and just because one is on the computer doesn't make it anti-social. Its just another community, like your school, church, club, or job. And anywhere there is community there is care for one another.