Only Met Online

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If you have never met someone in real life, but know them online and like them and they like you, do you consider them your friend?

It seems a lot of people here do, but I don't. I mean yes, I do like some people on this site but I don't consider them my "friends".

I am talking about people you have NEVER met in real life here.

Yes, many of my best friendships have played out entirely within the internet realm.

Sure I agree with Moog. Best friendships are to find in the Internet. I met some online friends already in real life, that's always an awkward thingy but worth it. Internet connects the whole world and this is a good thing especially for people who are not so social in real life. They can build up meaningful friendships and relationships as well and can get over their fears and worries. It's a good thing, people find easier friends and online friends are as good as those in real life. Sometimes they are closer than those in real life I think. It's just easier to share your problems and your life with people you don't know in real life.

I'm not a "friend collector." I do have one profile that's totally public where I do automatically accept all friend requests, but with most of them, if I've never spoken to the person, either on a thread or through PM'ing, I won't. Even then, most of the people on those "friends lists" I don' t really consider friends, but nobody makes "acquaintance lists," so there you go.

I have though, developed quite a few true friendships online. I exchange regular emails with them, and even have spoken with some of them on the phone. Still do on occasion.

I've made some pretty good friends online. Long distance all of them, but still friends.

Online friends absolutely are real friends and can be every bit as close. To claim otherwise is to deny that they have humanity, that they are humans with minds and souls and empathy and feelings, therefore enough empathy to have what it takes to be a friend, whether this is online or offline; rather than simply being robots or some sort of combination of 1's and 0's.

Unfortunately, it's just that my opinion is not reciprocated. It seems to me most people, more likely for the highly social and intuitive types, think the latter. As it's easier for them to connect instinctively and intuitively with people, if meeting people online they'd just see more of an unempathetic collection of 1's and 0's which they would find creepy - an Uncanny Valley effect - and which they will disdain. I mean typically they will talk to friends on Facebook, but there at least they feel they will experience a human touch, as they are people they already know offline.

Neither do people seem to give two hoots that the Internet connects the whole world. Believe you me, most people are horribly parochial, and have no interest in anything outside their own geographical bubble, that's my usual experience with people online even if they do try to branch out and meet people online. The Internet simply adds another layer of convenience for people to live out parochial lives.

It happened once. It didn't work out but it was fun while it lasted.

Humans use technology in human ways shocker

It's true though. Fear and the need for security and familiarity remains a huge influence on the majority of people.

Unlimited potential seem to paralyse people. For example: Even with all the amazing music in the world, people still listen to what the major labels and influential institutions tell them to listen to.

That applies to having new ways to connect and socialise through the internet.

I feel I've only just scratched the surface. Mostly I've used the internet as a 'read only' entity.

Last edited by Moog on 13 Jul 2011, 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

After quite a bit (months) of online contact, yes, I would call them friends.
I think meeting in real life adds another dimension of friendship.

I'm VERY different offline. I'm not social at all, but online I'm more or less at NT level of communicating with people

Let me see... do I consider the friends who I make in the arena where I can make conversation beyond small talk, where my word retrieval problems/forgetting how to talk/etc don't happen, and where the confusion of nonverbal communication is cut out, to be real friends?


Hell yes.

No, not really. In a few exceptions, though, yes.

Somewhat, yes. Somewhat, no. While I cannot consider someone who I've never met to be a friend, at some level, I would say that a friendship exists.

I have been online in various ways since 1989, and on the internet since 1993. I would say that I don't have any friends that I haven't met online, or met through people I met online. Further, I haven't met most of my current friends but I do consider them friends.

While I appreciate meeting people face to face, I do not believe it is required to establish a friendship. Often, such meetings are fairly difficult.

I've never met my best friend offline, and I wouldn't trade her for any hypothetical offline friendship in the world.

No. I actually have a folder in Facebook for "friends" and another one for "FB friends". I do not consider online friends real friends. Friendship is something very strict to me. There are requirements. One of those requirements is that you prove true friendship. You cannot prove true friendship over the wire. That's just not possible. It requires a long relationship and people to prove their value on random situations. That seldom happens on-line. That does not mean that I do not appreciate my online friends. I do. But they are only "online friends", not "real friends".

I don't consider most people as friends - whether I meet them online or in real life. People on the internet are 'real' to me, but most folk fall into the category of acquaintance, whether in a forum or at work.

There are a couple of people I have never met in person but we have known each other online for about 10 years or more - I would definitely consider them as friends