Are online friends just as important as offline friends?

[Ocean Breeze 5,200]

Of course!! They love me for who I am! 

[Splashee 28,596]

I can't help thinking that my offline status in Discord makes me an "offline friend" 

[dead account 2,716]

Of course! I mean online friends are offline friends, just far away.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

To me, friends are friends, plain and simple. I have basically no offline social life, for many reasons, so online is nearly my only option. I've met many great people, lot's of cool peeps on this site alone and I appreciate all of them. ^-^ I am not the best at being social and keeping up conversation, but I still try to show my appreciation in full. 

[Xe__or 4,378]

Nah; online friends are rarely as important to me as offline ones. As a matter of fact, I don't really have "online friends" ; I know better than to trust strangers on the internet. Don't trust anyone you can't see too much.

[SparklingSwirls 21,548]

These days most friendships are online anyways (thanks ‘orona). I’d like to meet more of my internet friends in real life!

Edited October 26, 2020 by SparklingSwirls

[Yakamaru 3,131]

If I hadn't met all the awesome people over the internet that I know now I wouldn't be in the position that I am currently in. 

I have found a sense of purpose, a sense of.. belonging. It is hard to describe. There are a few whose existence means more to me than what any language can describe. 

So yes, they are indeed just as important. And for antisocial introverted social recluses like myself, they are better because I don't nearly as much get my energy drained as I find text-based interactions easier. 

[Stardust 645]

Yeah and for some things it is easier. Some of my online friends I meet offline too if I can and they are close enough. The internet friends I have had over the years have really helped me a lot and get better.

[Clawdeen 20,277]

Why wouldn’t they be?

[ExplosionMare 21,334]

They are to me  We may not be able to do "in-person" activities but we still find ways to connect and hang out together.

[Samurai Equine 54,780]

There are days that feel like if it weren't for online friends, I might not have any at all. 

[Rainbow Cloud 19,053]

Yes some of my best friends are online friends, think I have more online friends than offline friends.

[Do svidaniya 2,045]

For me, connecting with people online was always easier, but it's also easy to deceive people as well. Online friends can be life changing for both good and bad ways. 

[ExplosionMare 21,334]

17 minutes ago, Acinonyx said:

For me, connecting with people online was always easier, but it's also easy to deceive people as well. Online friends can be life changing for both good and bad ways. 

Absolutley! You have to be very very careful with online friends! I know from experience how bad some can get  You just have to make clear boundaries and if people can't respect those, they aren't worth your time.

[Tao 8,845]

Personally I think how luck I'am with the friends I have in my real life.    Online also,  I got a few good ones on here that make my day better.   

[Sparklefan1234 179,582]

Quote

Are online friends just as important as offline friends?

Yes. Just ask @Ice Princess Silky <3 how much friendships matter to me. 

Edited July 7 by Sparklefan1234

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

This is actually a very good question with no solid answer. I got tagged in this so I just noticed it but.. 

when I first became social online.. many many years… I took nothing seriously.
 

Just a bunch of strangers who are probably lying to me. 
 

O how wrong was I. Little did I know that when people would message me, pouring their hearts out that I was their best friend after so long of bonding, etc.. they meant it. it has been one hell of an adventure ever since.. 
 

And one of them @Sir Hugsalot would even later fly to see me and save my life from some craziness that was going on with family at the time.
 

So. The answer is.. yeah. Online friendships **can** be just as important, if not more important, than in person ones.. it just depends on how you both see things and if you invest or take it serious enough to follow through.

 

How honest you are together, etc all of those factor into play, as well. Can even be life changing with the right people. 
 

I appreciate you @Sparklefan1234 for taking your friendships seriously enough to guide me when I perceived some of them incorrectly. And that helped with healing. 
 

That is one of many good examples of how an online friendship can be just as important as in person ones.

Or it can just be chill and impersonal. It is, literally, whatever you want.  Just be honest up front with people.

[Sparklefan1234 179,582]

1 hour ago, Ice Princess Silky &lt;3 said:

I appreciate you @Sparklefan1234 for taking your friendships seriously enough to guide me when I perceived some of them incorrectly. And that helped with healing. 
 

That is one of many good examples of how an online friendship can be just as important as in person ones.

Or it can just be chill and impersonal. It is, literally, whatever you want.  Just be honest up front with people.

Thank You SO MUCH for helping me to heal, too, @Ice Princess Silky <3. 

We've both had our moments of self-doubt as well as other emotional moments but we've also become closer, better and stronger Best Friends because of them. 

[TheRockAReader 53,952]

My online friends did help make my life great again and I’m grateful to them now and forever. 

[Longhaul 8,065]

I really have no offline friends, so yes, I would say online friends are just as important.  I personally think a friend is a friend no matter what.

[DubWolf 18,485]

I don't really see any friends in real life very much. I feel much closer to a few of my online friends if you ask me. I'm happy I have this website as a medium for getting to know other people that I wouldn't have been able to meet otherwise. I cherish those friendships very much.

[Snoopy Fan 7,821]

I’d say all the friends I have here on the forums are just as important as my offline friends.

[MLP Golden Breezie 780]

9 hours ago, DubWolf said:

I don't really see any friends in real life very much. I feel much closer to a few of my online friends if you ask me. I'm happy I have this website as a medium for getting to know other people that I wouldn't have been able to meet otherwise. I cherish those friendships very much.

yeah, unfortunately I don't know many friends in real life either.

[Crypty Scribbles 6,406]

Yes, they are.

But online friendship is harder to do, that's why true online friends are so rare 

[Do svidaniya 2,045]

On 2025-07-06 at 1:17 PM, Acinonyx said:

For me, connecting with people online was always easier, but it's also easy to deceive people as well. Online friends can be life changing for both good and bad ways. 

To expand just a bit, I once had an online friend - I won't go into detail as it's a very long story - ultimately it was a huge betrayal and some trauma residue still resides 14 years later from that.

Alternatively there's @Raskolnikov whom we also met online about 14 years ago and became fast friends after, and we moved in together 10 years ago and it has been great. I don't know where life would be rn without that.

Ultimately - online or offline - they're still your friends, just be careful about whom you befriend because it can still become very real either way around.