#10- Connecting from afar

     If there is one thing that has been taught to many, especially over the course of the 2020 pandemic, it's that connection with those close to us is important. People maintained their connections and helped to deal with the troubling events of the world by communicating online on mediums such as video calling, calling, texting, social media, etc. 

    Even before the pandemic intensified how people communicate with each other technologically, people have used the internet to help strengthen their connections with other people since its birth. Email has been a convenient alternative to handwritten letters that allows messages to be sent instantly and received by people in a much shorter time frame. It also still allows for the classic letter format to convey messages to those we miss from afar in a less casual manner. Text messaging also instant messaging in an even more easily accessible way that can also be used for more casual conversation or exchange of images, videos, or links in a way that is less time consuming than email. The rise of social media brought a whole myriad of ways to share opinions, photos, memories, videos, and words with people across the world, whether they agree with our personal view points or not. Social media, while it does have its harmful effects, allows people to stay in touch and kept up to date with what is going on in the lives of the friends around them.

    An important way to stay close with friends, as mentioned above, is through using the various mediums of technology to help communicate and stay in touch. While friendships can survive without as much interaction and the further complication of geographical location or busy lives, it can be more difficult to maintain those connections and many people change enough that they move on. Technology and the various ways to communicate is what has helped me to overcome the fear of losing the valuable friendships I possess and strengthen them more than ever.

    Keeping up with friendships is especially vital as people transition from graduating high school to moving on to college. Many people move away for college and have their friend groups split by geographical distance. The friendships I have are no exception, even though they all stayed in state, we all got scattered around to different colleges across Arizona. Keeping in touch online has helped us overcome a lot of that distance and keep the camaraderie.

    The primary way my friends have stayed in touch is in use of the app Discord. Discord is an instant messaging/call/video call app that allows people to create communities and connect from all around the world, although it is marketed the most towards gaming and streaming. Discord has allowed bigger groups of my friends to keep up with each other in a more personal way than social media, and allows us to schedule times to call. Another way I have been able to keep close with my friends is through the world of online gaming. We have collaborated and made fun memories through playing games that promote cooperation and creativity (such as Minecraft, the hit horror game Lethal Company, and weird games on the platform Roblox); and competition and arguments (in competitive games like Jackbox, Gartic Phone, Among us [regrettably], and online uno). 

    Through online gaming and talking, I have further strengthened the bonds I have with my friends I hold so dear. This is something I am especially grateful for because online classes make it more difficult to connect with new people. Updating each other through our different means of communication has allowed us to remain close and connected although our lives keep a lot of us apart. Technology has been a vital aid to being in touch with others to maintain and feed the social needs of people across the world. It doesn't beat the closeness and personal touch of face-to-face communication, but it is able to keep bonds tight and close when meeting in person is not possible.