This is very true...
How much do internet friends 'matter'
- Thread starter Trekkin
- Start date
Diddly Ditto.
How much do they matter? It varies, obviously, as with everything. As already established upthread, the online friend you end up marrying will matter a great deal, pretty much more than anyone.
Friends are friends. Doesn't matter if it's on- or offline. Both are equally important to me.
I don't like any of you guys. Leave me alone!
Yes indeed. I used to hear it back when the internet was fairly new. There was cyberspace, and meatspace.
There's also Meat Spin, but the less said about that the better for everybody, both in this thread and those within a 100-mile radius of each person reading it.
Some of my most powerful, intimate, and rewarding relationships and friendships began online. So it's certainly possible to forge incredibly powerful bonds with people you haven't met in person. But, in fairness, those relationships and friendships didn't become truly special until after we had met in person - during meetups, etc. So while internet friendships can (and do) become special, nothing quite replaces actually seeing that friend in person.
Right now, of the ten people in my life I communicate with the most frequently I'd say, oh, four of them are probably online friends whom I've never met in the flesh but who give me great advice, make me smile and laugh and make regular as well as great, high-quality contributions both to my Facebook wall and conversations here in TBBS.
If I had to bet, my Internetians matter more to me than I do to them. This is truly my first and only foray into Social Networking, and I am quite happy here. But it is all relative, and a matter of perspective. However, I am hopeful that some I have met and interacted with here feel close to me, as I do to them.
I don't see what makes them different than real life friends, you can become as close to them as you could with any other person. It makes it easier to not to worry about physical appearances online.
I found it much easier to talk to people online than in real life. The first "real" friends I thought I had were online, but I ended up learning my lesson the hard way on that years ago. Its only been reacently have I been able to try again.
I think my online friends are just as important as friends I have right now. Many of the friends I have here are from other countries. Seeing/reading what happens in their lives is great.
Several years ago I asked a similar question here and my answer then was unequivocal: I said my online friends matter just as much as my offline ones. However, having since been used and thrown away by one online "friend", kicked in the teeth by another and flicked without any semblance of a reason by a third, my answer now is...rather different. There are still a few who remain exceptions to the new feeling of extreme wariness, but it'll never be the same again.
Online and offline acquaintances, at this stage, I think of (as) just the same. Hopefully experience won't teach me otherwise in those cases as well.
Online and offline acquaintances, at this stage, I think of (as) just the same. Hopefully experience won't teach me otherwise in those cases as well.
Well some of my internet friends matter a whole lot to me and I wish I had the opportunity to meet and speak with far more often. Others I still care about and wish well but I have lost some touch with due to the simple fact that real life took over. I am still sentimental and curious about their lives though, and that will prolly never go away since in my opinion people are more clear and real about their opinions online than irl if they choose to be. But I am prolly completely faded and forgotten by now. Which is ok.
I allowed real life to take over since the person I was online the most for came to my real life and now years later we are married.
I allowed real life to take over since the person I was online the most for came to my real life and now years later we are married.
I don't like the word 'meatspace.' It sounds like an insult.
Online friends and real life friends are two different things for me. Real Life friends are those who I do trust implicitly and would call if there are emergencies or if I need help. Online friends share the same interests that I do, and while I trust them, they are just on a lower tier mainly because I don't know them in real life. I probably do have more online friends than real life friends, but I'm perfectly fine with that.
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