[Mz]

Having spent a year at death's door, I can assure you that when you are physically unable to go out and get a life, the internet beats the hell out of laying in bed and staring at a blank wall (which I got so fucking sick of, I bought a screen to cover the damn wall and later put curtains over it so I wouldn't have to stare at the damn blank wall ever again).

[rick_2047]

Phone calls?? Anyone?? There are plethora of people I would like to call.

[Mz]

Seriously:

A) How are phone calls "more real" than internet conversations?

B) Did you read the Reddit discussion you are criticizing? His handle is "Lucidending". He opted to go off medication in his final hours so he could be lucid and spend quality time with family before he checks out, something he was unable to do while completely fucked up on chemo and other drugs. He is spending his last hours with family and on the internet, the internet being a substitute for a physical world tour which he is physically unable to do.

[biot]

   > A) How are phone calls "more real" than internet conversations?

Bandwidth. While both are real -- thus making the phrase "more real" a bit awkward -- verbal communications transmit far more information than the words being spoken and I can't imagine the amount of typing it would take to convey the missing data. In that sense, it's "more" real.

[Mz]

Except that in some cases people exchange photos and other info online that you cannot exchange verbally. In the thread in question, the OP stated this was his "world tour" and folks posted links to photos, something you couldn't do by phone. You also couldn't have a phone conversation with multiple people in the same way. So I don't entirely agree. Different kinds of data can be shared. But it isn't necessarily "less" info, just different info.

[biot]

Good point. I wasn't thinking of photo sharing and such in regards to "conversation"... in my mind I pictured plain text email/chat vs. phone call. By that measure, Facetime and Chat Roulette are internet conversations and greatly exceed what is possible via a phone call.

[Mz]

"A picture's worth a thousand words."

Voices have their good points. They convey a lot of emotion and such. On the other hand, I found that has a big downside as well, especially when dealing with something like a serious health crisis: People can't keep negative emotions out of their voices, emotions which can be unwelcome to the person in crisis. If you are dying and wanting to "get a life", not dealing with the emotions in someone's voice can be a benefit of being online. To me, it's not "more real" or "less real". It's just a different means to communicate, one with different strengths and weaknesses. It's better suited for some things, less well suited for others, but to me it is no less "real".

Oh, and have an upvote.