In "real life", an observation I've made about people in general is that they're not as "extreme" as they are online. Their views and opinions are far more complex and nuanced than what they share on social media. They may disagree, but usually they arn't as nasty and obnoxious in-person, likely due to the fact they arn't catering to (or be effected by) the invisible "audience" or their "in-group" in the background on social media.
At an individual level, people are also really fucking weird in person. When you spend enough time with someone, you pick up on just how strange they are and their odd quirks, which may even be unbeknownst to them. You're weird. I'm weird. Everybody is weird. And we all have our own unique weirdness traits. This weirdness is essential to who we are, and online interactions rarely, if at all, communicates this weirdness.
The point I'm making is that interacting with "online people" is not the same as the interactions we have with real people offline. Personally, I prefer getting the vast majority of my interactions with other humans to be in the physical world. This isn't just a preference. I believe regular interactions with other humans in the offline world is an essential ingredient for our mental health.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to send comments, questions, or recommendations to hey@chuck.is.