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Internet friends
17 years ago
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Well... ever since I read something somewhere that someone kept saying internet friends aren't really friends, and years ago, I had a close IRL friend who say the same too, makes me want to write something.
I have met many friends from the internet and later met most of them IRL and through the years we are still friends although some of us are apart due to distance. I don't see why internet friends get discounted just because we don't always go out to hang out or whatever.
So, I met my this friend through IRC and a bunch of us used to hang out a lot at cafes and stuff to draw or just have fun, the bunch of us were really closed for a few years. We'd have sleep overs at each others place, hang out every weekends, spend festivals or birthdays together. But as we grow through the years, this friend decided that he wanted to be apart and broke off the routine. I'm totally fine if he wanted to break off routines, look for new friends and experience new things out there, but he said that he felt that internet friends aren't really real, which hurts me so much. After all these years and things we've done... We aren't real? We went through happy and sad things together. We aren't real?
Well, anyway, maybe he had something else in his mind.
I mean we've gotta start somewhere. It's unfair to just slap people in the face that "internet friends are not real" or also love through the internet aren't real. There are so many people who met through the internet and later got married and live happily ever after. Of cos there are horror stories of people we met online that is really disastrous, I had my fair share of meeting horrible people.
Anyway...
All these are just my opinions, you might agree or disagree. I'm not writing this journal to start a debate, I just want to get it off my mind. : - \
I have met many friends from the internet and later met most of them IRL and through the years we are still friends although some of us are apart due to distance. I don't see why internet friends get discounted just because we don't always go out to hang out or whatever.
So, I met my this friend through IRC and a bunch of us used to hang out a lot at cafes and stuff to draw or just have fun, the bunch of us were really closed for a few years. We'd have sleep overs at each others place, hang out every weekends, spend festivals or birthdays together. But as we grow through the years, this friend decided that he wanted to be apart and broke off the routine. I'm totally fine if he wanted to break off routines, look for new friends and experience new things out there, but he said that he felt that internet friends aren't really real, which hurts me so much. After all these years and things we've done... We aren't real? We went through happy and sad things together. We aren't real?
Well, anyway, maybe he had something else in his mind.
I mean we've gotta start somewhere. It's unfair to just slap people in the face that "internet friends are not real" or also love through the internet aren't real. There are so many people who met through the internet and later got married and live happily ever after. Of cos there are horror stories of people we met online that is really disastrous, I had my fair share of meeting horrible people.
Anyway...
All these are just my opinions, you might agree or disagree. I'm not writing this journal to start a debate, I just want to get it off my mind. : - \
Its stupid and ridiculous and hurtful! i 100% agree with you, cuz i totally had something happen to me in more or less the same manner!
I feel the same way. : (
1995-2009. 14 years now. Internet Friends don't count? I don't think so. Internet friends are my "chosen family." And they treat me better and love me better than any blood relations I've ever had.. because they -chose- to love me, not out of some "familial obligation." Internet friends love you for who you are, not because you're blood.
-Sabrina
But hey =3 there isn't much to debate here. As blunt and rude as it may sound... you're friend is just wrong D: or anyone who says friends you know online aren't real friends. If a dog can be your best friend, why can't someone from another state or country be? XD I mean at least you can understand them :3....unless you really can understand "bark bark" and "woof woof" O_o in which case... teach me >A>... <A<...
So yeah :3 don't think about it too much Spea. Your friends are your friends, no matter where they are ^o^
and i have to agree that some real life friends aren't as good as the online ones : - \
maybe he just didn't say it the right way during that time. but oh well... maybe i cared too much and got hurt.
Thanks Fuchi
As a matter of fact, I like my online friends more than my irl friends, because my irl friends just don't feel like true friends... well, at least most of them.
Your friend doesn't sound like a very good friend...
he was a good person (i believe he still is one) just too bad that came out from him at that time.
You're a true friend to him. =D
Having said that, it always helps to meet the people you're talking to at some point and spend time with them from time to time so you can get to know them better in their environment. Some people you get along with fine online until you meet them irl and realize they have a quirk that drives you nuts or something; which is really unfortunate. But it sounds like you and this guy were legit friends (or at least, YOU were a legit friend) and he is just confused about what he wants. I'm think if this person was worth your time, tben he would've stuck by you.
I'm REALLY sorry to hear that this has happened to you. You can't seem to get a break, lately. Jeez. Hmm... I've had this happen to me a lot too, so I feel ya. <:C
Thanks a lot, actually I'm okie, that happened a few years ago, although I havent forgotten it but it's just some conversation make me want to write about it. : ) *hugs* I appreciate your concern though~ :)
So much.
I met my current friends through the internet. We've been friends for 4 years now. I lived with one of them for 2 years even. I even met my current girlfriend online and even though we live in different time zones we still hang out every day - we chat with a microphone, watch movies together on Youtube, play video games together, draw together, and sometimes even share video. (We plan to get web cams lol!) And we send each other stuff in the mail for special occations.
Seems very real and meaningful to me.
However, I don't like it when people think it counts for human interaction time, (ie building social skills) on the same level as say meeting someone at a cafe and seeing their body language. So you can still have 'net friends as "real" friends, but I do think people need to get out more and look each other in the eye.
What the average person considers internet friends is similar to what they'd consider a pen-pal to be. 'Real' in the sense they exist so far in as perceived, yet not tangible. Tangibility is... well, it's what people use to define what is real and what is illusion. Which is part of the reason magicians are so good at what they do... that, and they're just sneaky.
More fundamental reasoning though, may simply be that the definition of what a "real person" is can be described by how friendly and compassionate the person doing the reckoning is. Some call this being a "good weather friend"; they'll be anyone's friend so long as doing so won't leave them feeling uncomfortable themself. The sympathizers, the empathy; are the kinds of people who can see "internet-people" as real, tangible, people. Likely because they perceive; or at least divest; the thoughts behind the person writing to them and through that they become tangible and therefore real.
Of all the people I have met online that I am not blood-related to, not one I have met in person... not even my ex-boyfriend and, to me, they are all quite real.
but i also met some pretty fantastic folks who i definitely rank among my closest friends :3
If I went by the "Internet friends aren't real friends" thing, I'd have missed out on a lot of cool people. Including my fiance (who I met online, before carrying things offline).