INTERNET STRANGER FRIEND

Recently I made an internet connection with a blogger much like me but I believe she is much more proficient than me.

She is a woman I have never met face-to-face and have never talked to on the phone and am fairly certain I never will.

But what initially captivated me was her refreshing honesty, and also the anonymity of the situation – she even uses a nom de plume which I found very intriguing and wish I had thought of earlier.

Personal details have been scarce but always there, and her thoughts and ideas have both energized and lifted me up and I know I strive to be more like her in my blogging.

Being tremendously open minded, I give most the benefit of the doubt, and usually can instantly foretell the outcome of a situation, and in this case I knew instantly I was communicating with a person of substance and not a typical internet wacko – you know, the people whose stories do not add up – pumping themselves up to be grander than their shallow little lives allow.

This is not the case with my new “stranger friend.”

For some reason this morning, after receiving an email from her, I decided to Google her name. I had pieced together her real name (which she never truly hidden from me) and much to my amazement there were pages of entries. Okay honestly, I wasn’t surprised to find her, but I was excited to find so much available on her.

I read about her activities and without even trying I uncovered where she is employed, how she spent time outside of her office, and was not surprised to find that she is exactly who I thought she was, quite an accomplished young woman. Several photos appeared on one link I entered and it was the same beautiful lady smiling back at me.

Then I started to get concerned.

There is no privacy or even anonymity any longer. With a few keystrokes I was easily able to piece together small bits of her life to create a fairly telling portrait of my new “stranger-friend.”

In the age of technology it is quite elementary to put together enough tidbits of information in order to find almost anything you want to know about people you’ve never even spent time or met.

Of course, individuals that share their opinions on the World Wide Web are easy to locate.

In an age of internet predators and fakes and phonies, it may be more important to be a tad less forthcoming with personal information.

I got side tracked (I’m still concerned about all of our privacy)

Anyway - I was happy to sneak a peak into her life and see her accomplishments and works. They don’t really mean anything to me other than to confirm what I already knew – she is a lovely young woman who is accomplished and is enjoying a fully enriched life – and that made be happy and proud for her.

My new stranger-friend - I look forward to learning more about your wonderful self and life and reading your thoughts.