An interesting concept that Kimberly identified from her research is the idea that the “offline” life is viewed as necessary to contextualize or complement “online” life. We’ve previously struggled with defining these terms, so I’d like to leave aside for now the inherent contradictions and problems that come with policing the boundaries between the offline and the online, and consider further the relationship between the online and the offline.

Kimberly expressed the finding that the prevailing view is that the offline is better than the online, and that the online life (or interests) are supposed to complement the offline. For example, the Leonardo DiCaprio fan club is an interest expressed online but based upon something “offline” (an actor); the same relationship is expressed through online documentation of instagrammable locations that are experienced in-person. I definitely see this sentiment (privileging in-person interests and experiences) expressed around me as well, especially considering the sentiments people express about “returning to in-person life” and all the discussions about what constitutes the “college experience”.

Considering this view, though, makes me wonder about digital interests and their relationship with the physical: do all interests and activities circle back to this emphasis on in-person (for lack of a better word) experiences? For example, take video gaming. Video games initially required a physical presence and existing relationship (think of the earlier consoles like NES); then, with online games like Minecraft or World of Warcraft, the pendulum seemed to swing towards online relationships that could be conducted entirely in the digital. However, what about the meet-ups, or conventions, or tournaments, whose purposes are to facilitate in-person meetings? Although I don’t really play video games, I know of the importance of meeting the person “behind the avatar” so to speak; the large amount of money invested in tournaments where people gather together to watch gaming (when it could just as easily be watched from a screen) seems to also underline the significance of the “offline”, even in online communities.

Are there communities or online activities that don’t privilege the in-person? I initially thought online gaming was one such example, but I’ve just generated a counterexample for myself. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else can think of a community that lives entirely in the digital and has no basis or connection to the physical.