Virtual Loves –

There are those who think that the so-called “virtual loves” began with the appearance of the Internet. The truth is, if we review history, we realize that this is not accurate. Of course The Internet has significantly facilitated this type of long-distance love. But those distant crushes have always existed.and.

There was a time when marriages were arranged at birth and the bride and groom met each other on the wedding day.. There were also times when courtships were strongly restricted and couples could not meet alone, but with the presence of some authority figure and always keeping their distance. The Internet did not invent these types of relationships.

Love at a distance

The case of the girl who falls in love with a pop idol is classic, even if she has only met him through television. Thousands and thousands of young people in the world continue screaming and tearing their clothes at the concert of a perfect stranger whom they admire without really knowing why. Of course, it is not about love as such; but it does indicate that the range of emotional experiences is very wide.

Some great loves have occurred in the distance. The one that Gabriel García Márquez tells us in “Love in the Time of Cholera”, which lasts a lifetime and remains intact over time, but only reaches direct contact after several decades. This work recreates the real love of the writer’s parents.

Our great-grandparents and many of our grandparents maintained passionate relationships by letter.. In Colombia, until not long ago, there was the figure of the “reasoner”, a character who lived in the towns and whose mission was to carry messages of furtive love, from ear to ear. There have also been “writers” of love letters in many places, who are in charge of a similar mission.

During wars, many relationships have had to survive distance and time through letters. More recently, the telephone replaced many written messages for couples who, for one reason or another, were not physically together.

Changes introduced by the Internet

The Internet has only made these “long-distance loves” easier and more numerous.. Today you can establish contact in real time with someone who is on the other side of the world. You are no longer subject to searching for people of interest only in your city, but you have the entire planet at your disposal.

In addition, the network allows you to see those people you have not met live and direct. You can access their photographs or contact them by video conference. They say that very soon we will have holograms on demand.

The validity of “virtual relationships” originated by the Internet has been questioned from many sectors. It is argued that they are fictitious, since each one of those involved can lie about themselves or present only the positive elements of who you are, deliberately hiding the negative or dark elements of your life.

This criticism would be valid if this did not also happen in what we can call “real life.”. Are there no deceptions in real life? Is there no distortion of personal image? How many go to see their new love just woke up and without having brushed their teeth?

The questionable thing about virtual relationships is not in the medium itself, but in the characteristics of the people who participate in them.. Virtual loves can also become wild and addictive. Likewise, they could contribute to masking the fear of genuine love, commitment, and real relationships. But in the same way they can be a means for the birth of great new loves. Reality proves that it is so.

Image courtesy of nuvolanevicata