do you guys mostly socialize online, too?

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TBH, I've long suspected that autistic people don't lose out as much by moving all our socializing online as typical NT folks do. Or at least the more extraverted NTs out there. I'm not sure about introverted NTs, I could see that going either way.

It's probably why the first crews to Mars are likely going to have a disproportionate number of the more dexterous autistic folks out there, as there's less of a penalty for us using asynchronous communications for socializing and less of an attachment to how things are done here on planet Earth.

I was in my 30s, I was still living with my mom, me & my mom didn’t have a computer until around 1999, I had a Commodore computer in my teens, I mostly played games on it, my family had an IBM for business, I was a child, the computer was in the den, I used the computer too for learning, there was this math game I played that was fun too. Anyway, I had a great time on forums, I was in Yahoo chat rooms & Yahoo messenger, I was chatting on MSN messenger too. I was in my fave musician fan website in early 2000s, I was in his fan club too, on the website there was a backstage pass for members only, I was a member, it cost money to join, it called a webboard with chat rooms, tour dairy, fan art, forums & more things, it was my fave website, there were a few fan websites that I were a member of, I made my own website for my fave musician, back then I was MORE SMARTER. I made friends on fan websites.

This is how I feel too, it’s easier to talk online, I used to be really good at it with my friends offline that was around 2007, I moved out of my mom house when I was 37. When I got older, everything got harder, I have Aspergers, Cerebral Palsy, Learning Disability & more things. The friends I made before, they left, things got more challenging, with meeting friends in person, you have to talk, you have to keep talking even if you don’t know what to say, you may say the wrong thing & you can’t take it back, it will be embarrassing. Online is MUCH BETTER, there is NO PRESSURE when I’m writing emails or talking on text messengers, I can take my time, on messenger, I use Facebook messenger more, alot of times, I don’t talk right away to them, they may stay on messenger for a few minutes at a time, I can take my time to say the right words. In emails, whatever I say, if I don’t like it, I can edit my words & delete them. There been emails I written to my dad, it can take me up to a few months to finish the email I text my sister because I have to, we REALLY DON’T GET ALONG, she can always be confusing in text. I can unsend messages on Facebook messenger

I don't have any online friends. I'm not sure how that would even work or how I would go about it.

There was a time about 15 years ago when I was on a forum for a band, and it was very chatty and yes, at the time I thought I had made friends. And then they bullied me and it was terrible, and I think it was in part because communicating online is prone to misinterpretation.

So I guess I'd be worried about seemingly making friends with someone but then not really knowing them and having a bad outcome.

I would be your friend if you like

I'm not sure if I do. I guess it depends on how you define socializing. The only social type sites I go to are this site and a subreddit for a game I play. I have posts here I enjoy reading, but I don't always have things to say and I'm not good at carrying conversations or building relationships with people. The game subreddit I only go on to trade, so my interactions there are short, to the point, then over once the trade is done. Does reading and sporadically posting count as socializing? If it does, then yes, I socialize more online.

Does family count as socializing? I only have one person I socialize with atm that I'm not related to, and I see him a few times a month. Beyond that, it's only family. I see my grandson a few times a week, talk to a few of my kids a few times a week (call or text), and I see my dad a couple times a month and talk to/text with him here and there as well. My other two kids I hear from more sporadically. If family counts as socializing, then I socialize more offline.

Thank you. That is kind. I'm not really in any shape to be a friend at the moment.

That sounds like a lot of fun!! There was something special about the internet in the late 90s early 2000s. It was exciting and new and everyone seemed to have the best of intentions. Nowadays there are so many trolls.

Yes, but as I oscillate between the UK and the USA, it's often the only way I can keep in touch with my friends and family. I wouldn't want online interaction to replace physically being with people I know and trust (if it's reasonably possible to be with them), but for everybody else, bring it on.

Not-in-person communication can also have a certain advantage over in-person - for example, if I have an audiocall with somebody, we've usually got each other's attention more completely than we would have if we were physically together where distractions seem more able to interrupt the conversation.