Yesterday, to help "promote" my photography to raise money for ICSF (see link in the right margin), I issued a little "press release" (using PR.com) about my appearance last week on Evening Magazine. Less than an hour later, I got an email from a reporter in London, and a few hours later, one from an editor in the Maldives (Indian Ocean). How amazing that two people on the other side of the world responded mere minutes after something was issued from Seattle! That's the power of the internet!
Although I have concerns about internet security, the truth is that I've made some great friends by participating in forums for activities like photography, SCUBA diving, and motorcycles. Some of those people live across the country - or even in other countries - and when I've finally gotten to meet them in person, I feel like I already know them!
Speaking of friends, I was recently contacted by email by two old friends - Ron from college and Rick from childhood days. These are friends with whom I've had no communication for over thirty years, and both of them just happened to come across my email while tinkering around on the internet!
Before email, my siblings and I sometimes went for years between contacts - all busy with our own lives, and seldom even talking on the phone. But we now communicate by email almost every week, sometimes several times a day! I feel like I'm always "in touch" and have grown closer to them as a result.
So...as much crap as there is on the internet, I see the positive side, too - it's a tool for establishing, re-establishing, maintaining and even improving relationships!
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