Poll: Internet friendship?

[JesterRaiin]

Hmmmmmmmm...
internet people are important, true. However, since they are very prone to sudden disappearances, they can't be treated exactly like someone you meet in reality, i guess.

 

[Fearzone]

It isn't a real relationship until you have met in real life. Internet-only relationships are driven mostly by the fantasy of who the other person is, not what they actually are. Even phone contact (or vent nowadays) doesn't cut it, unless there is some aspect of a physical presence. It is like the question of pornography vs. actual sex.

It wasn't until Facebook that this question started being asked. Back in the day, back even in Cyberpunk fiction, connecting through the 'net was a means to an end, and interacting solely online such that the 'net replace reality was considered an aberration.

 

[Neonbob]

They are absolutely important.
I've met most of them through this site, too!
And I talk with them pretty much every day, about damn near everything.
They're always happy to listen to my shit, I'm happy to listen to theirs, they entertain and advise me, and they're just good people.
Plus I have a great deal more online friends.

And HOLY SHIT YOU'RE A GOOD ONLINE FRIEND!

*Manly hug*

OT: My opinions of online friends has changed a lot over the last couple of years. I now consider some of my best friends online as close to my heart as some of my real life friends. I like to think I have a healthy mix but almost all of the people I've met on the internet and not in reality have been from these forums

*epic manhug of manly proportions*
AS ARE YOU, REDDY.
CAN YOU FEEL THE FUCKING LOVE?
You better

 

[Chalacachaca]

Well those who I call friends online are the same ones who I call friends irl, those who I only interact with online tend to be deleted for various reasons (they bore me, I bore them mostly).

 

[D Moness]

Seeing as i spend a weekend trying to cheer up an internet friend irl(due to reason was feeling down). I see internet friends as important as irl friends. Some internet friends i haven't seen , some i see more then my best irl friends. Everyone has a busy life so some people I see more then others.

As for the people that say internet friends come and go , so does irl friends. I am always available for people i see as friends(online and ofline).

 

[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.