Do you think Online friends = Friends?

Page 2 of 6 [ 87 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next

hanyo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Sep 2011
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,302

25 Feb 2012, 5:14 am

I don't see how online friends are any less friends than real life friends except that it's easier for them to deceive or ditch you which they can do in real life too.



Wolfheart
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Feb 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,971
Location: Kent, England

25 Feb 2012, 5:16 am

CrazyCatLord wrote:
Online friends will vanish from your life someday and leave you to try and figure out what happened. They will discard you like a video game that has lost its entertainment value.


It sounds like you need to question the quality of the type of people you are befriending and try to find where their sense of loyalty lies. A few questions you can ask yourself are

Is the friendship mutually beneficial to both of us?
Do they have a sense of loyalty and value?
Is their any reason for the friendship other than a mutual interest, i.e, work, gaming, sports or do you genuinely enjoy each others company?



1000Knives
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jul 2011
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,036
Location: CT, USA

25 Feb 2012, 11:21 am

It depends on the friend. I've had online friends be better than my IRL friends sometimes. Talk to me on the phone when I had no computer, etc. Also, occasionally with my online friends, if we have something the other person needs, we'll mail it, usually just for shipping cost or sometimes free. Like my friend needed a battery charger, I had a spare, so I mailed it to him. This friend, I talk to almost everyday, and I've known him since 2005. However, now I have very few online friends, I only have about 5 I talk to on any consistent basis. It's one of those things where, 200 people on the buddylist, but only 15ish you talk to regularly, now it's dropped to 5 or less.

Online friends are like IRL friends, you have real friends like I've described, where you might as well just be best IRL friends, then people you just talk to about stupid stuff occasionally, then people who ignore you/dislike you but are too passive aggressive to actually tell you. But yeah, in my case, a few of my internet friends have been as real or moreso real friends than my "real" friends.

Now, it's weird, though, as I've realized my social problems apply to online, too, so now I don't seek out online friendship as much anymore. My problem in both of them is, I'm quite outgoing, but still a social idiot, so my outgoingness actually makes things worse than if I was quiet and shy, works the same online, I had one online friend block me, I saw him on a different screen name, was like "hey, why'd you block me?" and he said I talked too much about myself. So yeah...



qwan
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jan 2012
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 231
Location: Great(!) Britain

25 Feb 2012, 11:55 am

Yes, because you know they like who you are and not how they look because they can't see you. ^_^
I think my online friendships are more genuine, everyone in real life just wants sex with this stupid body.
Although I get social anxiety online only, which is backwards. >.>



Bun
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jan 2012
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,356

25 Feb 2012, 12:16 pm

Simple answer: Yes. More complicated answer: Yes, I believe so, but I still try to make more IRL friends nowadays because I realise that expectation.


_________________
Double X and proud of it / male pronouns : he, him, his


Who_Am_I
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,632
Location: Australia

25 Feb 2012, 8:25 pm

Yes.

My online friend has never treated me like some kind of second-class human.
Every. Single. IRL friend I have ever had has treated me that way at some point.


_________________
Music Theory 101: Cadences.
Authentic cadence: V-I
Plagal cadence: IV-I
Deceptive cadence: V- ANYTHING BUT I ! !! !
Beethoven cadence: V-I-V-I-V-V-V-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I! I! I! I I I


Rascal77s
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Nov 2011
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,725

25 Feb 2012, 9:19 pm

Hexagon wrote:
Yes. I care about them, which makes them friends. I cite an example in which I became deeply concerned a friend of mine was suicidal. She was, but got better. I was happy.


I think I spaced out on your avatar for about 30 min. 8O



camelCase
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2011
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 128

25 Feb 2012, 9:27 pm

I don't think friends exist.



dianthus
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 Nov 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,138

25 Feb 2012, 9:34 pm

Some of them are. Some friends are real friends, some are not, same as it is with people you know in person.



Mithos
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 685
Location: Ponyville, Equestria.

25 Feb 2012, 9:34 pm

If it weren't for the internet, I would be a total loner.


_________________
{{Certified Coffeeholic.}}
I have Severe ADHD (Diagnosed), Tics and Mild OCD. [Fully Alert, Test Retaken.]
------------------------------
Your Aspie score: 128 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 72 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie


Sibyl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Jul 2009
Age: 80
Gender: Female
Posts: 597
Location: Kansas

26 Feb 2012, 12:49 am

Yes and No

They aren't the same, so they aren't equal.

But I think it's a wonderful new world that has both.


_________________
Asperges me, Domine


kestrel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 574
Location: Ohio

26 Feb 2012, 1:07 am

I do consider internet friends to be real friends.

Shouldn't I?



Paulie_C
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

Joined: 4 Jan 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 246
Location: Birmingham, UK

26 Feb 2012, 3:13 am

Yes.

They offer a different kind of friendship, one which doesn't rely on face to face contact and the issues that can arise from such situations. I have met up with a few online friends and it always went well.



weird
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jan 2012
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 33

26 Feb 2012, 5:14 am

Quote:
I used to think that, but I no longer do. Online friends can switch you off like a TV set if you happen to feel blue and are not entertaining enough. Online friends will construct elaborate fake personas and background stories, and you will never know who you're really dealing with.


This happens with the "real ones" too.



Sora
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,906
Location: Europe

26 Feb 2012, 11:49 am

Online "friends" = friends?

No. Just no.


_________________
Autism + ADHD
______
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett


FireMinstrel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jun 2008
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 567

26 Feb 2012, 12:04 pm

No, not really, just one exception.


_________________
"I'm sorry, I seem to have a tin ear for other people's feelings..." -Naoto Shirogane