Internet Connections

So, the internet...It is a wonderful place. And it is a place where you can see the convoluted relationships in your life. One example:

Today, I saw someone new was following my blog. I wondered if/how I know this person, so I did a little (MINOR, don't be afraid) stalking. I checked their blog list and when I didn't recognize any, I clicked on one of the blogs this person "follows" and looked at THEIR blog list (are you keeping up?). There, I found one of my friend's blogs (she is a friend, but she is also my ex-boyfriend from high school's little sister, so already things are convoluted!). I wondered if maybe they were related, so I looked through more of their blog list and didn't see any blogs of this ex-boyfriend's-sister's family, so assumed maybe it was just some (strange) chance. Okay, so I went back to the original person's blog and clicked another of the blogs he/she follows. Guess who owned THAT blog? One of my sweet group therapy facilitators. So, this person I don't know, knows my ex-boyfriend's sister AND my therapist?! How does this even happen? Then, I went back to the first person's blog and clicked another blog, only to find that this new person was related to my ex-boyfriend's sister. WHAT?!?!

For some reason, I always thought that the people I knew, knew me and their other friends, and that is all. Sometimes, if you met someone new who lived in your same town, you may find you know some of the same people in different groups. But the groups were always very defined, even if there was some "cross-over" between said groups. With the internet, I am learning all the "rules" (or maybe I should say "definitions") I THOUGHT there were, are GONE! I can know someone who knows someone else, who knows someone who knows me. And I suppose all along this kind of thing would happen, but I would have never known. Could you imagine what it would be like trying to discover this same kind of connection BEFORE the internet? You would have to make a list of ALL the people you know and give it to everyone you know. Then, they would have to give that same list to their friends and ask them if they knew anyone on MY list. (And NOT just friends in the same area, or the same demographic, but ALL of their friends!) At the same time, they would have THEIR own list going around, trying to find out who knows someone, or who knows someone who knows someone, on their list. It would have been nearly IMPOSSIBLE, and very time consuming and labor intensive.

And that is all.