We are relationship creatures

Much has been said of the rapidness with which the Internet has expanded since its private, commercial application started in the mid-to-late 80s. Twenty years is not a lot of time, but in those mere two decades, we have watched the Internet expand from a handful of users to a few hundred thousand users to millions upon millions of users.
And, again, “users” is the perfect word: be it for up-to-the-minute news, social networking, file sharing, or online shopping, we use the Internet just as we use the other means of communication available to us today.
Even in its most simplistic form – a prayer chain forwarded between friends or office gossip that spreads like wildfire – the Internet is a tool. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the technology that surrounds the Web. The Internet is neither our best friend nor our worst enemy. Keeping up with the latest gizmos and gadgets is a worthwhile pursuit but should by no means become an obsession. Boil down any website, blog, e-newsletter, or even e-mail, and you’ll see that it is less about graphics and download time and more about you and me.
At the end of the day, the Internet is about relationships. Just as Gutenberg’s printing press revolutionized the way people, groups, governments, societies, and even entire continents communicated with each other, so, too, has the Internet created a new paradigm shift for relationship-building.
I believe we were created to be relationship people.  All of us need to have a personal, one-on-one relationship with something. That relationship can be with God, a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a college, a news source, a musical group, a celebrity or a friend. Today, thanks to the Internet, you and I have an opportunity to have relationships with people that are outside of our geographical area, our belief systems, and comfort zones.
We will always seek to better improve relationships in communication, whether it be shouting to one another across the valleys, using a can and a string, to telephones and radio, man has in him, I believe, a need and a desire, a drive to communicate more effectively and efficiently.
We are relationship creatures.