Do you think it's strange to be making online friends with people under 18 as someone in their 20s?

Generalsexbad

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So, I'm 21 years old. I play online games and post on multiple forms. And I sometimes meet people that I like. I think they're funny, they post interesting topics, we have similar interest, but then I find out that they are like 17-15 yrs old, and I always feel like a loser making friends with highschoolers, because I remember highschool and how dumb everyone was, including myself. And sometimes when they find out that I'm 21, they all of sudden have this ridiculous respect for me, like they are lucky to be in my presence, like I'm a goddamn celebrity.

But some of them are just good guys that I like joking around with. Is this weird?
 

mad825

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I dunno. I've made online friends with people in their 40/50s and I'm half their age. Is that weird?
 

JoJo

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I don't think so, age doesn't mean much on the Internet, especially if it's just a few years. I remember once finding out one of the people I wrote in an RP with was just 14, and suddenly all their weird quirks and poor grammar suddenly made sense :p
 

sky14kemea

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I wouldn't say so.

When I was 17 on here I made a friends ranging from the same age, some younger, and some older even reaching up to their 40's. (it's not as bad as it sounds!)

Most of us are still great friends now, so I don't consider it strange at all. It just means I have friends with a wider range of experiences and interests. :)
 

Lufia Erim

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Only if you actively seek them out. If you just happen upon a player and befriend them it's fine.

However if more than half your friend list are teens then thats a little bit creepy.
 

Secondhand Revenant

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Nah, not weird. You have perfectly good reasons to be friends with them. Bit awkward for you maybe, but it'd only be weird if you sought them out due to age.
 

Scarim Coral

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Consider I'm 28 and most of yous lots are below that age, not at all.

Even then back in Highschool I was friends with a couple of the pupils below my years.
 

mecegirl

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I wouldn't say so. Some of my best internet friends are younger than me, some of which are 10 years younger than I am.
 

Jamieson 90

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Not at all, back when I was 10/11 and playing Quake Arena, Wolf ET, pretty much all of my gaming friends were older and more experienced gamers. We were a really good crowd and they were all great players so I learnt a lot and got very good very quick.

Similarly, when I got older my friend group consisted of older and younger players. I think what counts the most for online friends is activity and how well you work together, not your age. The beauty is you don't know how old people are, so you end up spending time with people you'd probably avoid in RL.
 

Dalek Caan

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Nah, as long as the person who is under 18 knows to be careful fun times can be had all around.

I remember when I was 15 I joined Kongregate and stayed in one chat room for 2 years. I made quite a few friends there, one who was a Mod and quite a older gentleman.
 

Sleepy Sol

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I don't really think so, but hey, I play fucktons of MMOs. Now, at this point, I'm playing a sub MMO so plenty of people tend to be older than me. Sometimes by many magnitudes. But I've never felt weird making friends with folks older by a few years, nor do I feel too weird about younger people. Just...act like you do around any friend? How you normally conduct yourself? Isn't really that difficult.

This forum's got some really old folks, yo.
 

Callate

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In an open forum, where you could hypothetically be in contact with people of any age, no.

If you were hanging out in a specifically youth-oriented forum, that would be strange. And possibly a little creepy. But I don't think an open online game should qualify as such. (I hope not, anyway. I'm old.)
 

Aerosteam

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Hey, I made friends on this site early after making my account, at the moment I'm 19. Most people here are in their 20s.
 

infohippie

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I don't think it's weird. I'm in my late thirties now, and have friends online with ages ranging from late sixties to late teens. So long as you can get along with somebody and enjoy conversation with them - and aren't planning anything shady like trying to get a minor into bed - then I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.
 

Strelok

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Generalsexbad said:
So, I'm 21 years old. I play online games and post on multiple forms. And I sometimes meet people that I like. I think they're funny, they post interesting topics, we have similar interest, but then I find out that they are like 17-15 yrs old, and I always feel like a loser making friends with highschoolers, because I remember highschool and how dumb everyone was, including myself. And sometimes when they find out that I'm 21, they all of sudden have this ridiculous respect for me, like they are lucky to be in my presence, like I'm a goddamn celebrity.

But some of them are just good guys that I like joking around with. Is this weird?

I have played online games with younger people, never met them in real life though. Not sure why anyone would want to, but that is just me I guess.
 

Recusant

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There are people who'll assume it has a sexual component; if it did, that could be (probably wouldn't be, but could be) creepy. There are people who'll assume you're an asocial loser who can't get friends any other way, but they're the type who'll assume that about you because you're a gamer. You have a built-in common interest (the game you're playing), you have (presumably) matching or complimentary personality types. You're doing this in the age when we've finally begun to reject the idea of "you're supposed to act in a certain way, dependent on your age group; get in your box and stay there until you age up enough to get in a different box". Go nuts.

For what it's worth, when I was fifteen, back in the X-Wing Vs TIE Fighter days, I struck up a friendship with a guy in his seventies.
 

jklinders

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If you are not trying to hook up with them after school in a white van that has "free candy" sloppily written on it, I fail to see the problem here.

Especially within the context of mutually enjoying a video game I see no issue at all. In all likelihood you will never interact with these folks in real life. I see nothing strange about this at all.

Hell even if you did know these guys in real life, if you have the same interests and connect, the age gap is not that much and will be utterly meaningless in only a few years. Not really something to gethung up on to be honest.
 

FalloutJack

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Nov 20, 2008
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Uhh, no. Getting too involved with younger online acquaintances in an unhealthy fashion is. If you're just being a cool guy or gal, you're a role model.