Online life and death

We found out that a member of the forum died today.
It reminds you of what a strange world the online one can be. I didn't even know his name until today. Martin. We knew him as Buglass, and while he wasn't a prolific poster, I'd talked to him on PS quite a bit as he was the other Crowded House/ Finn fan on the forum. None of us knew he was ill. That's the thing, members come and go, some make a big thing out of leaving, making grand gestures, others just fade away, and disappear altogether and you never know what happens to them. That's the nature of the online world- it's easy to lose track of people and then something like this comes to remind you of the relationships you build up with other posters without even meeting them, or indeed knowing their real names even. It just made me stop and think for a moment.

I suppose I've been lucky to make a lot of great friends, and get to know people through the forums. People I've met online have turned into some of the best friends I've ever had. But what of the people I've never met. Are they still friends? It's difficult to say isn't it? I think they are, there are a couple of people on PS who I'd count as a friend despite never having met them- people I've trusted some personal things with and vice versa and who've been supportive at difficult times. Anyway, let's just say I appreciate it. Hopefully there will be the chance to meet a couple of people sometime. That would be nice. Situations like this make you think about it a bit more than usual.