I get almost all of my social interaction from the Internet. I mean, yes, I do interact with my staff offline, but I mean interaction for fun and connections. Heck, without the Internet, I wouldn’t have met my wife. I have probably told the story of how we met a few times before, but it all boils down to one message I put on a forum back in 2007 and my now wife’s desire to expand her social circle. Had I not moaned about being bored and feeling lonely living on my own, she might never have reached out.
As for the types of online communication I use, these have evolved a lot over the years. Forums are no longer a thing. Neither is Facebook or so I’m told, but I still use it almost daily. I rarely post anything to my personal wall, but I do participate in groups and gather information off Facebook (though obviously one might wonder how much of that information is actually misinformation).
I’ve been told blogging is no longer a thing either. It’s probably partly true, in that for a blogger I’m young at 39 and eventually the generations above me will die out. I have been blogging on WordPress for 19 years next month, though I’ve only had my current blog for 7 1/2. Oh wait, I briefly had this blog back in 2011 too and till this day remember an embarrassing post about my wife from just after we got married.
So what types of online communication are actually still a thing today? I doubt I use many of them. I never used Snapchat and only watched a couple TikTok videos several years ago. I did try Instagram several times, but didn’t like it. I do watch YouTube videos, but will never create video content myself and that does make it less fun.
I do try to use Discord for expanding my social circle but experience that I’m a dinosaur compared to most of the users even on adult-oriented servers. Oh wait, someone half my age is already an adult. I remember explaining that Discord is like IRC and mentioning this in a Discord server and no-one knew what IRC was. I got a comment asking how it felt to be older than Google and responded that I’m even older than the World Wide Web.
As I get older, I find it harder to adjust to the new developments in online communication. I mean, I’m typing this post using the Block Editor and that’s a major struggle for me already. I learned WhatsApp with relative ease in 2017, but Discord is very hard for me to adapt to. However, I do want to keep up with the changing world of Internet-based interactions. If I don’t, I’ll lose the most important vessel of connection to the outside world. After all, my life might’ve become less exclusively virtual since living in a care home, but like I mentioned at the start of this post, the Internet is still where I gather most opportunities for leisurely interaction.
A Multitude of Musings 
I met my fella online, we’ve been together almost 20 years now. My girls tell me Facebook is not cool but I use it daily too. I keep hearing that blogging isn’t a thing either but here we are and because of blogging I have made friends for life.
It is so hard to keep up with online communication, there’s just so much!
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Thanks for sharing. Honestly, people have said blogging is dying out for fifteen years or so already and yet 2025 was my most successful blogging year.
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I think being able to interact online is a life-changer for anyone who’s largely housebound.
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Good point. I completely agree.
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People must have felt so isolated before these things existed,,, and now we have a choice!
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Yeah, I agree. I’m lucky in that respect in that I grew up with computers and have had access to the Internet since age fifteen or so. I mean, I felt horribly lonely before then and I wasn’t even housebound.
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I used to read a lot. I’ve read some excellent books by people you’d never have heard of. But that’s a different ballgame to saying something in 140 characters.
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Thanks for sharing. I used to read a fair number of books too, but most of the time I’d reread the same books, because the library for the blind didn’t have a huge selection and in order to access regular books, my parents would have to scan them page by page.
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Yeah I was fortunate in that I had brilliant eyesight when I was younger. I was an only child so often found refuge in books. It’s only really the last ten years where, you know, it’s just easier not to read.
One of my friends recently self-published a book. The technology exists now where she started off with a Kindle book, applied what Amazon call an AI voice, and all of a sudden her book was available on Audible. I don’t know the exact steps, but that’s very powerful. As long as you have an eBook you can create an audible version. That could mean… every single book ever! If the publisher has the motivation.
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Oh wow that’s so neat! However, I prefer reading regular eBooks. The Apple Books app is fully accessible with VoiceOver (Apple’s built-in screen reader) and Kindle is fairly accessible too.
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Yeah my Android seems to read ebooks okay. My pc doesn’t
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My PC doesn’t either. I remember trying to read eBooks on it before I had an iPhone and it was hit or miss.
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I too heard that blogging isn’t a thing anymore, but I enjoy it and as long as I do I’ll keep doing it. I don’t have snap chat or any of the other things you mentioned either.
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Thanks for stopping by. Like I said in my reply to Kim, people have been saying that blogging is no longer a thing for fifteen years or so.
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I use Facebook to try and keep in touch. There are a few I use messenger to chat with. I have a Discord account but only to connect with my daughter. I know nothing about the site really. And of course here on WordPress. I too have heard blogging is fading, but I will be here as long as I need to write out emotions and at least one person reads still. I am very grateful to be able to make some connections through the internet. It fills up some of the empty space after no longer being able to work. And where else would I be able to talk to people from all corners of the world?
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Agree completely. I’m so glad you’re able to connect with people from all over the globe through your blog. So am I.
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I finally understand Discord though it took many years of trial and error but I use it pretty regularly. I connect with other people who are interested in the same things as me. I also am active on Reddit. I like how there are subreddits so if there’s something you are interested in, it’s there. It’s the place where I’ve grown my hobbies because I meet other people who share the same interest. People may say blogging is dead but I keep going because writing it good for soul. I’m not writing for other people, I’m writing for me. Eventually it will find its way to other people.
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Thanks for sharing. I occasionally use Reddit too.
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