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Are online friends just as important as offline friends?


Crazy Misty

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(edited)

Friends are friends however you see it. I don't think that you can't be friends with someone just because you haven't met them. You can talk to them, and now you can even talk to them through webcam chat. That's just like real life to me, except that you aren't in the same room, but why does that matter?

Edited by Juggler
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(edited)

I personally don't categorize my friends into "IRL friends" and "Online Friends". Friends are friends to me, no matter how/where we met or how far away they live. My best friend of 6 years I met online. Another really close friend of mine moved across the country. I've even met people here that I've gotten close with that have posted here in this thread. I don't treat any of them any different.

 

For the past few years, actually, I've felt a kind of Wanderlust so to speak. I've never really been comfortable staying in the same place. If I hadn't quit my job, I would've had my third trip up to NY alone. I guess I love the sense of adventure that comes with going to different places. Hell, if I had the money, I'd be visiting many different places all the time. What does that have to do with IRL friends and Online friends? I guess it means that I don't really have a sense of really having a home. I mean, yeah, I love my family and that's where I am now, but I don't completely feel at home here. I'm not sure when that's going to happen, but I know that it's not here. And since it's not here, my friends here will turn into Online Friends. I'll still treat them the same as I do now, we just won't hang out.

Other than that, other people have provided my same statements, so... Yeah ^^"

 

On a side note, I've even been able to sit down and have full fledged, hour upon hour of conversation with friends through Skype... I normally wouldn't be able to do that in person, because I'd get kind of bored, or that awkward silence would rear its ugly head xD

Edited by Eavath
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I would say even better. Because, well, with real life friends, you are only stuck with certain types. I'm a type who feels uncomfortable going out at night and go to discos and stuff, so I'm obviously going on internet. In fact, this just sparked some shitty inspiration from me...

Problem is, I don't stand still enough to actually get to know anybody. Although it may not seem to you, but this forum is the only one where I can actually feel like a part off. Albeit a minor, but still.

...and the inspiration is gone. Meh, at least it was cool for how long it lasted. Damn, I have too much time on my hands

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I have a special group of friends IRL, they are like my brethren. We've been friends since we were like 11 years old. That's almost 10 years.

I also have a couple of online buddies, and it's great to get on ze voice chat and play TF2, but god damn, I do so enjoy going out with my bros and watch a movie, order a pizza, play some videogames. (We do not partake in activities such as drinking/smoking/partying)

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I have a special group of friends IRL, they are like my brethren. We've been friends since we were like 11 years old. That's almost 10 years.

I also have a couple of online buddies, and it's great to get on ze voice chat and play TF2, but god damn, I do so enjoy going out with my bros and watch a movie, order a pizza, play some videogames. (We do not partake in activities such as drinking/smoking/partying)

 

You lucky guy. I'm jealous.
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You lucky guy. I'm jealous.

 

It just happens, you know?

When you are younger is so much easier to make friends, because little stuff as videogames can be the only thing you have in common with another kid. And that can be enough to forge a friendship that can last forever.

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I don't see why not. I met a 18 year old guy over the internet and I consider him a close friend even if the closest we've come to physical contact is through Skype from 500+ miles away.

  • Brohoof 1
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My online friends are pretty much my only friends, and I find them to be very important. I love them like I've known them my whole life. As a matter of fact, the girl I would consider my best friend was met in a forum when I was 18.

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  • 6 months later...

Hmph, I think that they both have an importance, since online friends usually won't judge you (unless you skype), but you need your IRL friends for good times and things you can't do with an online friend. So I would say they both are equally important, though for different reasoning. 

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Most of the friend I've made online are better friends than some I've made IRL, there's nothing wrong with having online friends, the problem is when you loose sight of them being able to just shut you out, it's hard to fully shut someone out of your life in real life, but it's easy online.

 

I made a few friends on WoW, people I have known for about 4-5 years, one day we had a minor row in which my best friend was involved (I know him IRL), one of the online friends tok this as an opportunity to turn everyone against me by living about what i'de said, I considered these people to be my best of friends and within hours one of them destroyed years of friendship.

 

Online friendships are just as real as IRL ones, it's just much easier to get hurt in them.

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While I was in high school, my best friend was an online friend. We ended up getting into an argument after I graduated and kinda just stopped talking. But they are real friends. Distance shouldn't matter when it comes to friendship.

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Pretty much, I have no issues with either real life or online friends. Online friends will pretty much respect you, as long as you do nothing wrong.  Real life friends, usually they are jerks but it depends on who your friends with, if they are jerks to you that means they aren't your real friends.

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My online friends are much better than my IRL friends. I have a lot more online friends, too, because I'm a bit of a berk in real life.

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Yes! I think so. My online friends are better than my IRL friends, and although I love them both, my IRL aren't as enjoyable to talk to.

Sounds crazy, maybe. But like stated before, it's easier to judge by looks, not words.

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My online friends are the same as my irl friends. the difference between them is i can act wierd with my internet friends but my irl friends expect a certain degree of maturity. Also online friends are way more interesting then irl friends. i mean where else will you meet someone from the Netherlands without actually going over there. Call me weird but im more at ease with my internet friends and i find it easier to make internet friends than irl friends since they dont judge your looks or personality.

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I'm very new to the Internet. I've used it in my life before but not as much as several months ago.

 

I never thought I'd be using the computer so much actually. I didn't even understand the simplistic things about it :P

But I think online friends are just as important as friends that are physically in one's life. I've had many friends, most either dead or back in Russia now.

 

I know one person I have a extremely strong connection with and they're online. I love them so much and even though we're using the computer it still means so much to me. Means a whole lot to me. Though if given the chance I'd gladly jump at the chance to meet them in person. I'd kill to do such a thing.

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I've been really good friends with someone I met online, actually better than anyone I know IRL

 

 

I was watching thepiratebay's AFK movie trailer and they coined the idea of saying AFK (away from keyboard) rather than IRL because talking to someone online was "In Real Life" which i think is absolutely true. I think everyone should adopt saying AFK instead of IRL.

|------------------------------------------------|

I don't have many online friends apart from all you guys  ;) But there's no one i talk to online that i'm really close with. It's the same AFK though i only have one or two friends i really go out of my way to talk to.

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@,

 

What's preventing you from meeting them if you feel so strongly about it? is it the fear of them being different from what you imagine them to be?

No I love our differences and I wish to be together for sure, but sadly we live in different parts of the world. In a perfect world I'd be able to just go down and embrace them but realistically I can't do that no matter how much I wish for it and even pray for it.

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While I think that online friends can be great, I think that there's something to be said for face to face interaction. Sometimes with online friendships it's easier to create a persona-sometimes while you're not even realizing it. Unlike in real life, online you have more time to edit your responses, craft what you're going to say, and it's hard to gauge their natural reaction to things at times.

That said, I do find a lot of value in my online friends and wouldn't give them up.

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I find it much easier to have decent friendships online rather than in real life. I have never been much of one to be open about myself in real life, and, when I have, it normally doesn't do me any good(once, I was taken in for a psychological evaluation due to me confiding something into someone I believed to have been a friend that told what I said to people who shouldn't have heard; t'was not fun), and, of course, I have a great deal of social anxiety(along with other anxiety disorders).
 
When I am online, the ability to be mostly anonymous makes it much easier for me to open up to people. As well as I am able to meet more people who share the same interests and such as I, while, where I live, I haven't met too many people who share my interests. And, in the past, when dealing with issues, it was very easy and consoling to just go to my friends online, bitch about it, then go play a video game and chat with them a while, or something.
 
Although, at the particular moment, I wouldn't say I have really any friends online or in real life. In both my online and real life, I have a handful of people I sometimes hang out and chat with, I wouldn't consider them any more than acquaintances, if that.

Anyway, on topic, it really depends who you are, in my opinion. For me, a person who has had extreme social phobia all my life, I have never had a stronger friendship with someone in real life than I have with certain people online, and those online friends definitely helped me with various issues. Ones that none of my real life "friends" could have, at that time.

However, for some, it might be easier to be more social in real life and find someone who they can relate to and be absolute best friends with in real life. I'm just not social in real life, nor have I met anyone like that.

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friendship is friendship on the internet and in real life. I live in a small hick town in Illinois and hate almost everyone in my town. :P

there are about 200 people in my school as apposed to millions of people on the internet. If internet friends were not the same then well... I wouldn't be on this website... 

 

It is the same.

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To be honest, I don't have many Internet friends. I always quite anxious around new people and I never know what to say. I really need to get more confidence. So for me, my RL friends mean a lot to me. I have quite a good group at school and I am happy with it.

Edited by Sly Raritas
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