virtual (t)hugs
You hop on one of your favorite games. The tribe in your zone vibes with you.
You lament the inclement conditions of the triple A gaming industry. More unnecessary, invasive value subtractions than you can fit in a clown car. Anti-cheat, kernel level rootkits, copyright strikes, digital rights management software, etc.
You yearn for connections in the digital realm. You wonder how to recapture your virtual social flame amidst dismal privacy. They hear your yearning for connections in the digital realm.
They ask you to join them for some virtual hugs. What do those comprise of? They suggest imaginary sympathy, kindness, camaraderie. These communities can surprise through fragility, flimsiness, and leakiness. One administrative mistake and years of community become lost media in a finger snap.
Invitations shared so soon aren't always the best idea. Take time to check if expectations conflict or diverge. Give people time to play their hands like they give you time to play yours. Your goal isn't to find everyone, but to find those who can share mutual help with you best.
Touching grass is one of the best solutions for that, but what about when you cannot? Your friend groups or local contacts may not share even your popular interests. Your may need casting far and wide for your most niche interests. Can you find what you are looking for based on the physical hugs you have shared?
Our bodies have not caught up to the exponentiating connectivity of modernity. Yet, we continue to graft local tangibles into global telecommunications. Anonymity - remote, perceived, and/or mutual - can relieve our racing, self-policing minds. Older people alive today remember the less connective days. Life spent without portable devices in everyone's pockets. Life spent without cameras pointed in every which way.
Forgive me if this sounds hyperbolic. Those who touch the tripwire of disallowed opinions become toast. Virtual hugs are only expended until you're declared a virtual thug. The worst part is that you don't have to be guilty of anything.
Being unwelcome isn't a problem if you have the mobility to fix that. If you feel you don't, let alone across dimensions, what do you do?