subject: To Enjoy A Virtual Life, Are You Ready? [print this page] In the information technology, more and more people have been linked on the internet, allowing some of them not to work in the office but at home. Many people lead a virtual life and therefore, the e-communication is booming.
In information technology, SOHO is a term for the small office or home office environment and business culture. A number of organizations, businesses, and publications now exist to support people who work or have businesses in this environment. These people neednt go to the office everyday. They work at home without worrying about their dress and the strict rules of the company.
Actually, such kind of life that human beings contact mainly through the computer has begun to see a blossom in the year of 2003, when the SARS plague spread in China. The deadly SARS virus plaguing China appears to have been a god-send for the nations Internet service providers. As people reduce their face-to-face contacts with others, or hide at home from the disease, e-communications are booming. Many people are surfing the Net for information about the mysterious, and highly contagious virus and using e-mail to keep in touch with friends and family. Many Internet users are downloading medical advice to relieve their SARS-caused anxieties. And they are using e-mail to share the information.
The remote office, which allows people to work via the Internet when they are out of their offices, has become increasingly popular since the SARS outbreak. Many people are nervous about shopping in high-traffic stores and malls are making purchases online.
However, the potential risks of the virtual life should also be paid due attention to. As we human beings are social animals by nature, therefore, we need face-to-face communication and we need to feel the real emotion of others through facial expressions but not the typed words. To live in the solitude may cause aversion to the real world. In addition, after leading a virtual life for too long a time, one may find that it will become more and difficult to return to the social world. Therefore, the extent should be kept and one needs to create some opportunity for himself to communicate with others.
