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TitsMcScandal

I've found that in the years I've been active in online communities I've made quite a few friends. Friends that I talk to on a regular basis, daily even. I always figure that people are most honest when they have nothing to lose, and online there is no real harm in losing anything if people judge you. Especially considering most people use a veil of anonymity online.

I have met more than a handful of people from the internet who I've created long lasting friendships with. Some in my area, some who have traveled from across the nation, and some who I'm still planning on meeting.

My question to you is this...

I feel like many of these people, some of whom I've known for years, talk to online, on the phone, via texting and so forth, are my friends. I feel like I count them among my closer friends than some of the people I know in real life. So you have people who are like this for you?

When there are people in your area who you meet online (whether it be through a forum like this, FetLife, AFF, whatever) then proceed to cultivate a friendship with them offline, is their relationship with you tarnished by the way you met?

I've heard many different takes on this from people in my life and was just wondering how YOU felt.

01/28/2011

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~LaUr3n~

I used to think this kind of thing was silly until I joined an online social site that was very interesting. The people there actually cared. Some of those people (about 4) I still talk to. Some of them were my phone buddies through some tough times too! My "real" friends were always there, but I truly consider a few people I have met online friends. Some I talk to everyday. It takes a lot though. Years, for me to consider an online person a "real" friend. Average: 2 years.

01/28/2011

Darling Jen

There's one friend in particular that I met online as a young teenager that I still talk to (it's been over a decade now!). We've grown apart somewhat but still like catching up and we're very supportive of each other. I never got to meet her face to face but we talk via every other form of communication (facebook, email, texting, etc.). I count her as just as much a friend or more as the ones I see physically, especially cause most of them are fair-weathered friends who tend to flake out on me.

And I'm starting to make some pretty strong friendships here too and would love to one day meet them as well. Friendship is all about the connection, not necessary the way you meet. And I agree that most people are honest about who they are and their personality when online and anonymous because they have nothing to lose otherwise.

01/28/2011

*HisMrs*

My hubby & I met on an AOL chat! Neither one of us was really looking for anything or anyone just kinda wanted to chat to whoever. We were bored and neither one of us really went on chats prior to the night we met. He stated in the chat that he lived in a town about an hour and a half away from where I lived so we started talking. I soon found myself coming home as soon as I got off work and chating with him until 3 or 4 in the morning. After a couple of weeks we exchanged phone numbers then after about another month we met in person at my town's fair. It's been almost 5 years now and I can't imagine my life without him. =)I think it must have been fate!

01/28/2011

Envy

I have a lot of online friends due to gaming online, but very few i can sit and talk to. And I find new ones all the time, and lose some as well. They help me the times I need them, and then after time goes by, we part ways. It's really quite interesting, and I'm thankful for all the people I meet and the things I learn as time goes on.

01/28/2011

Joie de Cherresse

I have a lot of online friends that I've met through forums. A few of them I've met in person. Some of them I feel closer to than friends I have in person. Sometimes I find it easier to talk to friends online than personal friends I have too. I think the internet has de-socialized me, lol.

01/28/2011

BadassFatass

I have had some close friends that I met online, although I seem to have lost touch with a lot of people lately by trying to cut out some of the negative influences in my life.

01/29/2011

SexyTabby

I have a handful of very close online friends and fewer real in life friends. I don't do so well being all social with others and the ones around me usually just want something lol so online I can relax and enjoy people more. Despite anonymity I am probably more myself online then ever in person with anyone else.

01/29/2011

Tori Rebel

When I was active on Etsy, I made a friend on there. We started messaging back and forth, then emailing, and she eventually came down to NJ and we've gone to concerts and even on short vacations together. She was a lot of fun and we had tons in common, but like a lot of friendships, our lives have kind of taken us in different directions the last couple of years (we both entered into more serious relationships) but we still keep in touch when we can.

01/29/2011

buzz

I have some online friends who I've known for half a decade and although I think of them as friends, I haven't ever met them in real life and don't really plan to. Partially due to where we live and partially because its just not the kind of friends we are.

01/30/2011

Jul!a

I also used to think it was a really silly idea. "You've never met these people, you don't know anything about who they might actually be" was my train of thought. Then I came here, and started chatting with people, and really felt as though I could open up to a few people. I talk with some on a regular basis, have met a few in person, and have a few more I definitely want to meet at some point.

01/31/2011

PussyGalore

I've met a few in the past. In the end our worlds were vastly different and we lost the initial connection. I'm open to making new friends, though!

01/31/2011

Emma (Girl With Fire)

I have made a bunch of friends online in the last 12 years. Some are gone, some I am still friends with to this day. One of my friends confided in me that he quit using meth because of the things I said to him. I'm still friends with another that I jokingly made a marriage pact with when we were 16. He has sent me books he has been published in and mixed tapes, I have sent him artwork.
It's just nice to be able to find people that mentally, you totally mesh with. Nice to find somebody who will always listen, even when you feel those around you couldn't care less.

Friends are friends, no matter how you make them.

01/31/2011

Kindred

I have made a couple of friends through years of online gaming. We live far apart and have never even met one another. I am very close to one friend in particular even though we have both since given up online gaming. We email, call, and text fairly frequently. I consider her to be one of my closest friends despite us never having even met.

01/31/2011

Peggi

Quote:

Originally posted by TitsMcScandal

All 4 of my BEST friends, the ones who mean THE most to me are all people I started talking to online! One of those best friends is the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with! It's funny how that happens, you meet someone online or on a chat who ends up being there for you no matter what!

10/30/2011

Total posts: 15 Unique posters: 15

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