Are internet friends real friends?

[MissGinaKid]

Yes yes and yes. My best friend in the whole world is a girl I met online. We talk with eachother everyday about almost everything. She is the first person I go to for advise or jusst to vent out. I met my very first boyfriend on WoW (I checked, He wasn't some 40 year old perv.) Every chance i chould i spendt with him and trying to keep up. I consider thouse two to be some of the best friends i've ever met. And i got alot more where that came from. No matter how you comunicate or how you met. A friend is a friend.

 

[StriderShinryu]

They can be "real friends," but I wouldn't say they are by default. It takes further communication than simply playing an MMO together or responding to one another on a message board to be a friend.

 

[Stasisesque]

Yee--no.

I used to think they were exactly the same, but these days I realise that personally, there would need to be face-to-face, "real world" interaction between us for me to consider that person a friend friend. That's not to say people I know solely through the internet are not wonderful people whom I absolutely love talking to and gaming with, and I would call them friends, but in my mind there's a distinct separation that I find difficult to explain.

However, there is a friend in particular who screws up this definition for me. I originally "met" him face-to-face, when a bunch of us who knew each other online met up in real life. Now, he was a friend of a friend of a friend, who WAS part of the group and we were aware who each other was, but we never really spoke. We exchanged a few words, but no real conversation. Later though, we started talking a lot online and became friends. We hang out a bunch, and I'm happy to say he's my closest friend - but the internet/real life transition definition of friends in my head is backwards for him, he's the exception.

There are people I'm friends with solely online who I've never met and likely never will. This doesn't mean I don't believe they're real, it's just not a 100% friendship, despite them being treated no differently by me than a friend I can physically touch. It is a complicated scenario.

One thing I can say for 100% certainty though; there will never be a situation for me, in which I would be able to have an "internet boyfriend". Long distance, where the internet is the primary method of communication, absolutely, done it before but never ever one where we'd never met. I honestly cannot fathom how people do that.

 

[Sarahcidal]

I think so.. you can hold onto the same "online" friends (msn, xbox live, forums..etc) for years.. and i've found that in most cases, people are more willing to open up about personal things to the "internet friends" more than their "real life" friends.

 

[Galebaby]

I've had some internet friends I've felt close to but I would never put online friends before real physical people unless I've known them for a while.

 

[robert022614]

i would definitely consider some of my online friends friends. i mean i have a buddy that i play games with, talk to about my problems and hell i even loaned him some money once (and borrowed once) we are going to meet up here soon for a vacation and well its not just games we met on a game and started IM and video chatting and whatnot so i would deff consider him a good buddy of mine...just not one who lives near me.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

To a certain degree, but meeting in person adds a whole new dimension to it

 

[-Samurai-]

I have quite a few good friends from the internet. About 4 years ago, I fell into a group of people on teamspeak. We switched games, got a ventrilo, and basically talk to each other every day. I've even become friends with the families of some of them. These are people that live in other states, and even other countries. I even talk to some of them on the phone or text them, and they text me. Its not all talk about games. Hell, after 4 years, its rarely talk about games.

I see no reason a person has to be there physically to consider them friends. When you have a friend, its all mental anyway.

I know that the day will eventually come when we all part ways. That's part of life. It happens with your non-internet friends as well. However, until that day comes(and even afterward), I will continue to call them my friends.

 

[Angerwing]

I've clocked up hours of vent time with my old WoW guild, and have raided/heroiced with them for even longer. I'd say they were (some still are) my friends.

 

[Sjakie]

You guys may find this article interesting:

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/virtual-friendship-and-the-new-narcissism

It's about how online social networking is changing the way people interact with each other, or something to that effect. It's been a month or two since I read it for my English class.

Holy shit, that was some interesting reading material.
And no, i dont think eFriends are like real Friends, they can be a bit more then normal RL aquintances, but never achieve "the status" of a real friend!

 

[Sephychu]

The distinction is there, but I value some of my internet friends as I would those I see on a day to day basis.

 

[ClaptonKnophlerHendrix]

I think that someone would have to know you pretty well and vice versa to be a real life friend, but it could definitely happen. I mean, there's a few people on here that I'd hold to the same levels as my real life friends. Hell, Hubilub will soon graduate from internet to real life friend when I see him.

Actually, on the subject of Hubilub, we've never met, nor have we ever looked each other in the eye, but from our conversations on the phone, on Skype, on here, we know each other better than most real life friends would. As I said, there's quite a high level of mutual knowledge that has to be reached for an internet friend to be a real life friend, but I know Hub well enough that I could call him a real life friend, certainly.

A true internet love story.
*Cues the violins*

 

[likalaruku]

Friendship is about communication.

I've always thought that my online friends were more reliable & less disappointing. Becides, I hate having to look people in the eye when talking to them.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

I don't think there is a simple Yes/No answer for this. Some of my best friends in REAL LIFE I have met over the internet and I have some online friends I have never met who I feel quite close to, it's gone beyond simply playing games together now, we talk on msn/facebook, txt etc.

When I first got onto Xbox Live I met a guy who I became quite good friends with, we would talk and always play games together, we created a clan together and by about a year in had each others phone numbers, facebook and were really good friends, even though we had never met. He then went through a rough patch in his life and was rarely on xbox, he had no internet and his mobile cut off. I didn't hear from him for about 6 months, then one day he texted me saying he had moved to Geelong (Victoria, AUS), we have had an infrequent sort of correspondence since going through patches of communication and then dropping out. I hadn't spoken to him in about 3 weeks when today he came on msn and told me to call him. I did. He invited me to his wedding. Yes a man I have never met invited me to his wedding because he felt I gave him support and showed him friendship in his time of need and that after 3 1/2 years of virtual friendship he wanted me to come to his wedding.

Of course there are people I've been talking to online for 3 years I could drop in a second and never think about again, my point is I don't think there is one single answer and that every situation, friendship is different.

 

[Nukeforyou]

I kinda let a few cross but not many

 

[splatterguy734]

I don't have anyone who I could call an internet friend but I introduced my friend to the escapist and know he has an account

 

[Cherry Cola]

we know each other better than most real life friends would.

To be fair, we kind of cheat by being the same person in different skin.

OT: A real friend is someone you can borrow money from and promise to pay back but never will.

So unless your internet friend has a pay pal account, he's not your real friend!

 

[Cherry Cola]

we know each other better than most real life friends would.

To be fair, we kind of cheat by being the same person in different skin.

Who knows, perhaps when we actually meet each other we'll be completely different! At the moment, the only real difference I can see is that I like James Cameron a hell of a lot more than you do.

Watchmen had better smurfs than Avatar anyway!