Are internet friends real friends?

[Akalistos]

You want your answer? Here a trick

I'm five buck short of my rent this week. Can anyone spare a few dollars to a guy in need.


(Now watch how many of your friend respond. If they do, they count in my book, if not than you got your answer)

Edit: it a bit harsh but your friends must be there when your in need instead of saying fail! My point is, it will always depend the relation you got with the person in question. Not all of your friend want to see you. Think about the number of friend request you accepted without a glance at the profile, just because he or she send you one. But if i can twist a quote from Metal Gear Solid; "Frendship can bloom, even on a forum." You must care as much as the other does.

 

[Composer]

it would be weird seeing as they're older then me (18-around 23)
i enjoy the internet letting us use our mental age instead of our actual age.

 

[Spiner909]

Pfft, no. I have settled this long ago.

 

[A random person]

They very well can, but oftentimes they're more like casual acquaintances as you don't know or interact with them as much.

However, I have a simple test for telling if they're (at least potentially) real friends or just some guy you met online: would they be friends with you in person if you two somehow met? If so, they're friends, and being over the internet doesn't somehow change that.

snip

Your avatar scares me.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Well if you spend enough time with someone I think it's fair to call them a friend whether or not you've ever physically met them. I consider a few people I only know online to be friends, I don't think it really matters though.

 

[Z(ombie)fan]

I did a search for this and another topic came up that was similar, however it was also over two years old so I'm going to rewtire this and phrase it the way I want rather than post on a 2 year old topic.

So here's my big Q escapist. Would you consider your online friends real friends?

This is something that has been on my mind recently as I've been in a clan that's done some changing mergine etc. and we've lost a few people that I genuinely enjoyed playing games with. Yes I dont' care so much as to actively pursure them and continue playing with them. keep in mind I've spent probably upwards of 60+ hours playing various games with. However at the end of the day are they really friends? is someone who you game with a friend, and I'm nto talking about the random dude who liked your joke so he added I'm talking about the guys or gals who you look for and intentionally play games with because you would rather play a game with them.

When you log off do you wonder what they are up to or have some knowledge of their offline life?

I feel like this is an ever growing part of what the internet has become, with social networking becoming more prevalant everyday, can someone you meet online qualify as a friend? can they be a better friend than someone you can touch?

*EDIT* adding question I've posted later in the topic to the front so new comers don't feel left out.
Do you think it's fair to simply just leave? to cut ties and move on with your life?

Have you guys ever lost an online relationship that you were glad you left afterwards or one that you wished hadn't gone?

that last question... sprote8. both sadness at losing my most consistent internet-based friend, and relief looking back 'cause he was a sadistic dickweed.

 

[_Cake_]

God I hope so or I'm friendless. O well, I like me.

 

[NoblePhilistineFox]

isnt it ironic that "rewrite" is spelled wrong?
or is that just fuuny? ^_^
not a gammer nazi, I just think that thats funny

OT:
I dont consider online gamers my friends, but then again I always get stuck with a teamkiller or a dickwad ten-year-old kid who tells me he had sex with my mother and that I fail to his 41 year old awesomeness.
ever touched a breast kiddie, no? I WIN!!!!!!

but I got a little sidetracked there, It all depends on the circumstances, I dont believe that an online friend is a "social" friend, but sometimes they can listen a little better than a social friend.
If im not making sense, Im thinking like the "imaginationland" view type thing from southpark.
it may sound nerdy, but sometimes id rather avoid those dickheads I hang out with so I can go online and hear from an awesome gamer "sounds like you had a rough day, wanna blow off steam in brawl? we can team on random or play monster hunter or something"
so they can be friends, in a sense.

 

[historybuff]

Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Just like real life.

 

[Funkbucket]

For the past, 1-2 years i'v been with my guild on WoW,
I would consider most players as close friends.

I haven't met them, But i have most on social sites, eg Facebook/myspace

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

I suppose it depends on the person online and how often you are online.

 

[Denamic]

So here's my big Q escapist. Would you consider your online friends real friends?

Considering I've known some of them for years, and have actually met a number of them, I'd have to say yes.
People I just chat with on the IRC channels I idle in, or people I often talk to/argue with on forums, not so much.

 

[Daipire]

They are when my mum asks me "Are you playing with friends or just whoever, if so, i want you off it and doing chores!"

but there are some cool people in the wide wide world of fps games.

 

[MelziGurl]

Yes, they can be and I have a couple close ones that I have only ever met online. Would I meet these people in person one day? Of course I would. My fiancee and I had never met when we decided to give things a go, 4 years later we're engaged. I think it even improved my mothers opinion of the internet slightly, since she and the rest of the family get on with him quite well.

 

[Estocavio]

I consider people i know online to be more likable than people i meet in reality, since most of the people i know are like me, and tend to avoid knowing real people.

 

[Uszi]

I would say they are real friendships, but they aren't as strong as friendships you form face to face with actual people. Especially if they're gaming friendships--because your only common experiences are in the game. That can never really be the same as celebrating a birthday or covering your buddies back in a fight or hanging out.

If anything, I feel like those bonds were like the bonds between teammates. Some of those bonds are pretty strong, friend like bonds. But in the end they're more tenuous than real friendships because they're based solely in that one experience. Maybe if teammates are always hanging out and have common interests it can become more---but you see where I am going with this, I hope.

Do you think it's fair to simply just leave? to cut ties and move on with your life?

Have you guys ever lost an online relationship that you were glad you left afterwards or one that you wished hadn't gone?

Is it fair?
Sure, that's the way things seem to happen online. I was part of a really, really small StarCraft community for 6 years or so, that dwindled from a hundred to a dozen people over that period. When I came to college, I just stopped going.

Because the bonds formed over the internet are so tenuous, I think that it isn't suprising that people just cut and leave. I don't really take offense to it, either.

As far as whether or not I was glad... Meh? Like I said, online bonds tend to be much weaker than IRL ones. I don't think I've ever been deeply moved by those sorts of experiences.

 

[Valiance]

Sadly, I value (or valued?) some of the people I played Starcraft or Warcraft III with more than some real people that I hardly saw.

Sometimes I get more emotionally attached to people online due to similar interests or skillsets or personalities more than siblings living in my own home or people I see in class every day.

Occasionally, I still think about people who I've accidentally broken ties with because I don't play the game anymore, and there's still people who I stopped playing games with years ago that I still talk to often enough. People that I met on, say, BF1942, and we exchanged AIM names or something and we still speak from time to time.

Of course there's plenty of bad people I try to avoid as well, but time goes on and people stop bothering me.