My answer to this question is YES! Virtual life is changing "real life" interactions daily. The virtual world is a place where you can be whatever you want and do whatever you want when you want. Virtual life can make people feel different that they are and many get to live out fantasies through the virtual world through various websites.
Virtual life hurts people's communication skills. Many people are using face to face communication much less because they are communicating via the virtual world. This is a hindrance to people that are already shy. Instead of communicating face to face they hide behind their computer screens.
I have also found that virtual life hurts my students writing skills. I am currently an ACCESS Facilitator. I notice that my students automatically type in text format all the time. I have to continuously stress to them that it is acceptable to us that language when chatting with friends over social networks but not when communicating with your teachers. For my classes that I teach I deduct points for text language.
In essence I feel that virtual life will hurt real life only if we allow it to. We have to be sure to continue to communicate face to face and to not use text language when communicating with people other than our friends.
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