Friends/Online Friends Etc

[kazlin]

The friends I have made online are great (although I have met a couple of strange ones!) but I have just been thinking, I reckon that people had less friends and acquaintances before the computer age.

I am pretty lucky to have some good mates away from the computer...you would never believe it though, the amount of time I spend on here but most of my online friends that I chat to often are just as valid to me.

The downside though is that sometimes you meet people online but will never actually meet them, which is a shame. Just take a look at peoples Facebooks. I have loads of you on mine, but I am sad to say that after a time I don't even know who some of you are which is such a shame

I was really fortunate to have met GGG a few years back. We met on an online pagan forum, met and hung out loads for a time (that was a cool summer!) she is now one of my best friends and I know that we will be friends forever.

Can I ask...do you feel as connected to online friends as you do your other friends? Do you however feel that the friendship can only go so far because the friendship is based mainly online?

Also regarding Facebook, do you think that some people just want to have lots of friends on their list to make themselves feel/seem popular? I know one person with over 400 friends! I sometimes feel a bit of a hypocrite as I have nearly 200 friends, but only know approximately half of them. If you then delete someone and they realise they tend to think 'why' when you haven't even spoken to them.

I think that zebrastripes idea is a fab one as some of us are able to get to know each other away from the computer, so the friendship becomes a little more personal if you know what I mean.

These are just ramblings of mine this morning, probably due to Daniel waking up twice in the night and me being in a slight zombie mode. Hope I made some sense though

 

[DebbieM]

I have made soooooo many friends through the internet, not to mention meeting Matt through it and look at us now! All happy together with our little Lukie!

I have made some good friends through it over the past 8 years ranging from the UK, to the US to Oz! We have travelled to meet up with many people, even as far as Virginia, USA!

 

[zebrastripes]

Hurrah for PF Penpals (I like that little phrase you coined, kazlin)

As much as I do appreciate my online friends, I do still think there's something missing if you can't see their face, read their body language etc. But it is brilliant if you can meet up with people outside. The internet's a god way to make friends but I don't think it should be taken too seriously...

Mind you, as a result of the internet, I now have a virtual chav mother....I mean I would never have known kaz the chav otherwise

 

[fifi211]

I know what you mean, I talk to people more over the computer than I do in 'real' life. Most of my school friends no longer live in town, when I finished working to have the kids I lived down south and am now back up north so work friends aren't here. The friends I do have here work so don't really have anyone to have a coffe with or meet up with during the day apart from my mam or sisters (which is fab ), so most conversations are over the net and mainly on here.

There are people on here I would love to meet and be able to go for a coffee with etc and there are lots of people I would like to get to know better so I agree that zebrastripes idea is fab.

As for facebook, I have people on there I hardly ever talk to as well but sometimes it is simply an issue of time and when I am able to sit and reply to people.

Oh dear, I seem to rambling as well

 

[Flame]

I dont really like to add anyone i dont know to my facebook, i have a few pf people on mine but if i dont speak to them at all after a while i will delete them as i dont see the point in having people on there that you dont know and are never going to speak to. The people i have kept on there i have either spoken to or got something in common with. I think i have made a few quite good friends on the internet.

 

[LisaJ1986]

Sadly i don't have any 'real' friends. My best friend who i thought would be my friend forever has ditched me. I joined this site for some interaction. I got very low and needed to talk to people.
On my facebook i get people from school add me then never speak. I give them a certain amount of time to speak then they get deleted as i feel i'm there to bump up their numbers!
Therefore i'm hoping i can make some real friends on here. Hoping being the word. I get quite upset and jealous when the OH texts other people and goes out sometimes. I feel very lonely.

 

[SarahH]

I have my "real mates" that I See every week or so, but then I still class all you lot as mates too!!

I speak to Tracey 2 on the phone all the time (although this last week or so I havent - sorry hun... will have a proper catch up soon!!)

 

[Snuggle]

I have loads of friends on my Facebook and I'm also sad to admit that half of them I dont actually know There's loads that I havent talked to on FB so should probably delete but I would feel mean for doing it! Many of them are from the forum. I have outside friends that I see each week but I love my online friends too and there's so many I would like to meet (getting together with a few next Friday in Peterborough )

 

[mrs_tommo22]

My hubby thinks im a total freak with my friends online, thouh some of those i have spoken too for a while he dont mind me meeting and thinks its good for me as im billy no mates as all my mates live miles away

 

[CH0C0H0LIC]

Online friends mean a lot to me as at times I am quite housebound with my panic/anxiety attacks etc. I have a couple of friends offline who live fairly local but I try not to get too close to 'real' people as sometimes they are offended that I go for ages without contacting them (even though they are aware of my probs and have mega social lives themselves anyways).

Also with low self-esteem I don't like people 'knowing' me iykwim I feel less pressure with having some distance so internet friends are ideal lol

If I was a little less of a freakoid I'd be at every meet and really getting on your nerves so be grateful for small mercies

Sarah xxx

 

[Sammystar]

I sometimes worry that I don't talk to people enough on Facebook, mostly all the ladies from here But I do like seeing your status updates and pics etc.....

I've made lots of online friends, many I have met in real life, many I probably never will, but I do consider them all friends.

Equally I have 'real' friends from years ago, who I only ever 'see' through Facebook or Email these days!

 

[kazlin]

Mind you, as a result of the internet, I now have a virtual chav mother....I mean I would never have known kaz the chav otherwise

...and how is my little chavlette today...'mint' I hope?

 

[Slinky Sarah]

i also dont have any 'real life' friends, but my friends on here mean so much to me. I love talking to anyone but i have a few close friends that i talk to on msn and via text too and without them i wouldnt know what to do with myself tbh

 

[LisaPink]

Another one here with no real life mates, have lived in MK for a year & a half & know no one!! Might chat (say hi) to a couple of the mums at school but that is it. I probably do have more online friends, & will probably never meet most of them but that doesnt make them any less of a friend (Im rambling too!!!) Would love to meet some of them in real life, but very shy so that probably wont happen!!

 

[Squiglet]

I would say the closest I got to a best friend is someone who lives in spain and I met on this forum, I just cant wait to go for a drink with her and get to know her properly.

I LOVE MORAG! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I still have a few online friends I wish I had more time to get to know some of the people on my msn let alone the people who have added me on facebook...

Next august Mid... got it all planned out... gonna come to IOMidna to see you.. I might just end up staying forever... I've warned the henleek

 

[kazlin]

I still have a few online friends I wish I had more time to get to know some of the people on my msn let alone the people who have added me on facebook...

midna? You are on FB? Please don't say that I have added you, not realising it was you!

 

[LucyBee]

I'm lucky. I have a lot of friends. I worked for 20 years in London and have met so many people during that time. My Facebook is full of those people and it's a lovely way to stay in touch with them and see what they're up to now. The internet is fantastic for that. Before the www, we just would've lost touch and probably never seen each other again. The only Facebook people that I don't really know are some of the PF ones. I always accept PF friend requests though because it feels like a special 'gang'!

As for online friends, they're just as 'real' in my opinion. There are some girls on here who I have 'known' for years now and been through so much with. I love some of my 'virtual' friends just as much as my 'real' ones! It's a shame some of them are too far away to be able to pop round for tea and stuff but again, the internet has given me a chance to build friendships with people I'd never have had the opportunity of meeting before.

 

[Krystal]

I have 316 on facebook.. tbf though apart from people on here I do know them all. I may not talk to them all the time but I do nosey at profiles etc to see what they are up- to and it's nice to know that if I need to contact them I can where as without it I couldn't

I do value friends off here, maybe not as much as my mates IRL but I guess unless you meet people it's hard to properly get close but still value them though.

 

[sea-fairy]

yet another interesting thread!
I dont have any close friends in the real world, due to circumstances a few yrs back I had to leave them behind and move on,
I have a few people I speak to on msn but due to livin in cornwall I doubt I wil ever meet them!

I use FB quite a bit, but only have people I talk to added, I wont accept random people hence hidden on there!

If you dont talk your gone within 3 days! hrash I know but I dont want to end up with loads on there that mean nothing to me, like someone else said sometimes you feel like your only there to add peoples numbers up!

 

[1sttimemum]

I met my boyfriend online.

Ive met some fantastic people online.
Id love to pop round to Sarahs, Suzies and Beckys for a cuppa, i went through my pregnancy with these girls and feel a nice bond with them for that among other reasons.