How can the Internet be Dehumanizing if it's Made up of People?

Is the Internet dehumanizing? Tam at View From the Porch a href=”http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2007/12/internet-much-like-soylent-green-is.html”doesn’t think so:/abr /br /blockquoteAt this very moment, somewhere some pasty-faced academic is sweating out his dissertation on the dehumanizing impact of the ‘web. I think he’s barking up the wrong tree. How can it be dehumanizing when it’s made of people?br /br /It was late on a recent Saturday night, I was in a poopy mood, and I had just updated my blog and toddled off to bed. As my head hit the pillow, the phone rang. On the other end were traffic noises, the muted drone of a cop radio, and a Texas drawl: “Leonard Cohen, Tam? What’s wrong?”br /br /Don’t tell me it’s dehumanizing./blockquotebr /br /It certainly doesn’t have to be. I read many blogs where people seem to have a sense of community, despite all the blog fighting. If you lost your internet connection, would you suffer a sleepless night about the lack of ability to talk with others a href=”http://mal-fits.blogspot.com/2007/12/sleepless-night.html”like this guy?/abr /br /blockquoteHonestly, its a bit scary. Building a chunk of your life around something, and losing it suddenly. It’s ‘loss’, in its classic terms. I think it’s like a deep wound. Once you have lived through ‘loss’, the wound remains even if healed over. The scar is there and sensitive to pressure, even the smallest prod. Losing the internet and easy access to most of my friends was a strong prod to think about these issues.br /br /Loss has been to visit before, and left scars. Last night was lonely, and difficult.br /br /It may be time for me to back up and spend some time getting comfortable with ‘me’ again. Last night showed me that… at any time…. it may be all I have./blockquotebr /br /While I have never lost sleep over the internet, I have to say that before the internet, I could count on one hand the number of people I felt I had anything in common with. I no longer feel that way, thanks to this wonderful machine, and to so many of you.