Poll: Internet friendship?

[3AM]

The question should be "are friends important?" Once I attach the word "friend" to someone that means they are a real friend, whether online or off. Otherwise they're just someone I know and don't dislike, an acquaintance. Friends are important no matter where you find them or where they live. (I even understand that friendship is magic.)

 

[Liviola]

I have a handful of online friends that I like a lot and sometimes have more fun hanging out with them than my RL friends, simply because the process of gaining online friends is self-selecting (i.e. you tend to become friends with people with same interests, hobbies, sense of humour).

Unlike my RL friends (who I love and most of them I have known since elementary school) but their interests/hobbies/humour are completely different to mine (they're not internet nerds and don't know anything about gaming, memes, etc.) I'd say if I met them today, I would have nothing in common with them and wouldn't really be interested in hanging out with them given the choice.

I've met a few of my online friends IRL and they're awesome. First time I met 2 of my online buds in Brisbane and we went to Mana Bar. Also I met my boyfriend (of 4ish years) online and we're completely soulmates/opposite-sex-clones-of-each-other <3

 

[silver wolf009]

Ok, I won't take any chances with this not coming through clearly, so I'll just say it as blunt as I possibly can. The friends I've made online are, without a doubt, some of the best I've ever had. I feel a closeness to them that makes simply being able to talk and be with them one of the best experiences I have the pleasure of being able to partake in.

They've picked me up when I'm down. They've made me laugh. They've been fun to be with through and through, and my life would quite honestly be a lot more hollow without them.

 

[Robert Ewing]

I have a few close friends I have made over the internet. I treat them as rl friends, and they do the same. I don't really see a problem if you've gotten to this stage.

But remember, the internet is rarely this kind. Tread carefully, always remember that.

 

[-KC-]

I met few goood online friends on WoW (guildies) and we're frequently talking on FB, Skype and such. I can freely say that I do consider them worth as much as I do for my RL friends who often can't show as much understanding as those online friends can. It's weird. But thats how it is. Sometimes you can talk with online ppl about anything you could IRL, and thats what doesn't bother me and I actually like it. Also I have only 3 friends IRL who're actually gamers.

 

[Girl With One Eye]

My online friends are really important to me. I have met some really amazing people from the escapist, and had it not been for them, I really don't know where I'd be today.

 

[Jeebz]

Do sort of agree in a way you are closer to some online friends because you talk to them on a daily basis, and having gamed several years and having actually met some of the bunch I've played with, I can say yea, would def say that some of them are friends

 

[Blackmagic1515]

I don't really have any online friends. We speak breifly but the conversations tend to die off after a few days and we don't speak again. It's a shame, I wouldn't mind having some online friends, but oh well =p

 

[vfaulkon]

I consider myself very fortunate to have some friends I've made solely through online contact (WoW specifically), since my current situation - poor, jobless, far away from pretty much everyone I know - makes it hard to develop friendships in the real world.

More than that, though, I've made some real, lasting friends that I can rely on for the tough situations, those that actually like me for who I am and not the socially awkward, occasionally stuttery real person I can be. They have literally inspired me to become a better person, and for once it was because -I- wanted to more than they expected it of me. Perhaps most importantly, while I do act somewhat differently (i.e. more confident) online than I do in the real world, I feel confident that these people know me, and if I met them in real life any quirks about my 'real' personality would be mildly surprising at worst.

 

[Irridium]

Hell yeah.

Met some good people online. Damn good people who I am proud to have as friends. Sadly, most of them are in the UK, oddly enough. Oh what I'd give to go to Escapism UK...

 

[Caligulove]

The friends I make online I hardly ever talk to or see about anything other than gaming. Some of them just slip away or stop playing suddenly and I never hear from them again. Not a place to get attached. Short friendships made for great gaming and not much else. Always keep the people that are routinely in your life closer.

 

[winter2]

I voted no. It's not like I don't appreciate my online friends, because I do. But honestly, they are more like penpals than anything else. Amusing ones perhaps, but still penpals.

Nothing wrong with that I think.

 

[Idsertian]

Depends very much on the person, I have loads of "friends" online, but only a set few that I actually talk to on a regular basis. I have one that I'm particularly close to and the rest are just friends I rate at various levels.

Also, I don't know about "in compression" OP, but I'm talking in comparison.

 

[Nemu]

I would consider the "internet" friends I have to be as valid and important than the "RL" friends that I have. I still have separate groups for each, tho--some 'net friends are mere acquaintances, others are people I've actively kept in contact with (in some cases for well over a decade). Just because we don't see each other socially (or even physically met) doesn't mean that they have not shared their life with me and vice-versa. I still treat them the same as I do the friends and acquaintances that I have off-line.

 

[NathLines]

Absolutely. Actually, my oldest internet friend(actually, it even makes her my oldest friend as I don't keep in touch with classmates) just hooked up with my best friend. Hopefully, it'll last. I've only met her once and that was after 5 years of chatting.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I have some that I consider as good as IRL friends and we'd probably be friends IRL, if we weren't living in different countries. I talk with them almost every day. We play games together. We roleplay together. They're all bronies like me. Yeah, I'd say they're important I just wish we were living closer to each other XD

 

[Electric Alpaca]

I don't view it as a true friendship, mainly because you're viewing an individual through a filter.

The only real way to experience "friendship" is to be in the physical presence of an individual. I'm not saying that initial online based interactions are not a good foundation, more you can't truly know someone until you meet them.

This theory continues to evolve; for example you can't truly know your partner until you live with them as people can "act" for long periods of time if some downtime is viable between interactions.

 

[wooty]

They're not real friends. Unless I can have a pint and a face to face argument with someone, then they're not a real friend.

 

[Jandau]

I voted other.

I can't make friends with people online. I just can't percieve them as actual friends. I'm not saying nobody should have online friends, this is just a personal quirk. I can't feel close to people I've never met. I percieve them as people, but no matter what we talk about or what we do, they'll always be in the same corner of my brain as people that ride on my tram in the morning - somewhat familiar but not in any way close to me.

 

[Kuroneko97]

I sometimes feel online friends are better than real life ones. Then some random asshole on the internet reminds me that I'm just thinking about the Escapist community.

Meh. Real life and online friends each have their pros and cons.