Do you have friends on the internet?

[Jessica.]

Would you consider anyone you speak to online, but haven't met, as an actual friend? Do you think it's possible to have a true friend online? What do you look for in a friend? Do you think friends in real life are more important than online friends or are they equal?

[Jords]

I used to have many 'online friends' (inc. you Jess :bigsmile:) but Id probably consider them more as 'online acquaintances' now due to lack of interaction.

[Drew.]

A few from here i'd consider friends on the same level as friends in real life, it kinda becomes like that when you speak to some of them every day for years. I probably have more in common with some people online too. Much easier to lose contact and just forget about people online though.

[Black Dagger]

I don't really have real life friends, sad really, apart from my old school friends who I see once a week for pub quiz.

But yes I definitely have a lot of friends online (and enough to actually meet 4 of them irl :amazed:)

[Jessica.]

Much easier to lose contact and just forget about people online though.

I agree, that is one of the toughest things about online friendships, I have had so many friends who just disappeared one day. :sad:

[Jessica.]

I don't really have real life friends, sad really, apart from my old school friends who I see once a week for pub quiz.

But yes I definitely have a lot of friends online (and enough to actually meet 4 of them irl :amazed:)

I don't really have friends in real life either, Lucas, it's not sad, you're just superior. :smug:

[Shaun]

Voted the first option because social interaction (plus the history :laugh:) is way more important, but on the other hand I probably talk to some from here about more personal things than I do with any RL friends.

[Braden]

I speak to people on here like I would with my real-life friends, but I have much deeper connections with my real life friends,

With that said there are people on here I would (probably) get on with if I met the in person.

[Liam-]

I have made some amazing friends on the internet over the past couple of years, not always having the pleasure to meet all of them but am still In contact with them, it's so much easier to make friends online for me, I find people irl to be too judgey, I could never have spoken to some of my real friends about things that I've told my online friends tbh :flutter:

[Jessica.]

I could never have spoken to some of my real friends about things that I've told my online friends tbh :flutter:

Yeah, same, I find it so much easier to talk about things with my online friends rather than with family or people I know in real life, it's weird, but it's always great to have that option because sometimes you just NEED to talk about things. :joker:

[Liam-]

Yeah, same, I find it so much easier to talk about things with my online friends rather than with family or people I know in real life, it's weird, but it's always great to have that option because sometimes you just NEED to talk about things. :joker:

Exactly, I was going through some **** last year that if I went to my friends about it, they'd have probably turned it into a joke and I'd have still been no better than I was :laugh: but my online friends helped me through it and have me stellar advice without judging me or making me feel bad.. Internet ftw :joker:

[LukeB]

Yes one of my best friends is from the internet

[Dollface]

My best friend is someone i've known online for over 5 years
All my real life friends ended up stabbing me in the back at some point or another, so i thought "true friends" were just a myth. Turns out true friendships are possible though, via the internet in my case :)
We're meeting up this November though (finally!) so she wont be an online friend for much longer :smug:

[Xtopher]

Ugh I accidentally voted the wrong option. I have many online friends and a good amount of them are best friends. I also have real life friends and the same story. I love both.

[Novo]

Well yeah i suppose Purds has been equal for years despite being a Scouse jobber

[Santa's NaughtiNess]

Yes, i do. met them from facebook. We meet up from time to time. :)

[T*]

Voted the first option because social interaction (plus the history :laugh:) is way more important, but on the other hand I probably talk to some from here about more personal things than I do with any RL friends.

[2]

[ChristmasNeeve]

I have a couple of people from here I consider friends, it's difficult to take it to the next level of friendship without having met up in person though

[Santa's NaughtiNess]

I have a couple of people from here I consider friends, it's difficult to take it to the next level of friendship without having met up in person though

Same.

[Good King Glennceslas]

Voted the first option because social interaction (plus the history :laugh:) is way more important, but on the other hand I probably talk to some from here about more personal things than I do with any RL friends.

Same

[Jessica.]

Lots of internet love in this thread. :love:

[Ramsay]

I dunnnooooo

[In the Drunk Tank]

Would consider people on here friends but I only really interact within the forum and don't use off-site stuff, plus the obvious never met them in person thing, so it's very different to 'real life' friends

[LukeB]

Would consider people on here friends but I only really interact within the forum and don't use off-site stuff, plus the obvious never met them in person thing, so it's very different to 'real life' friends

Depends because people can meet up if they want to and trust them

[In the Drunk Tank]

Depends because people can meet up if they want to and trust them

Yeah sure but I was just talking about myself

[LukeB]

I spoke to this girl on msn who i didn't know 8 years ago and we still talk now, she is from london and i met her about 10 times

[Liam-]

I spoke to this girl on msn who i didn't know 8 years ago and we still talk now, she is from london and i met her about 10 times

:evilgrin:

[LukeB]

And i think im pretty close with 1/2 people on here too

[LukeB]

:evilgrin:

See her as a friend :p

[Liam-]

Yeah yea, that's what they all say :laugh:

[LukeB]

She has a bf and we just close don't see her in that way :p

[Santa's NaughtiNess]

I think it's possible to make friends on the internet. I have made a lot on twitter and facebook. I haven't met anyone in here, but there are people i like.

[lostalex]

what a silly question.

[Livia]

I have friends on the Internet who are just as important as my real life friends. I have friends on this forum who have been wonderful friends to me.

[Mitchell]

Definitely, I've made around 9 or 10 really good online friends, I met up with one last July, I currently host a podcast with one of them and will be meeting in December and I've spoken to one literally every day for the last 2 years, recently my friend has moved to uni, so I speak to her online now and it feels the same, I like to treat them equally as I've grown close to all of them.

Plus I only really have one friend in real life now and even her I can't really be myself to :p

[Santa's NaughtiNess]

The only person i'm really close to is my twin sister. She knows me more than anyone else and we just chat on messenger or skype all the time.

[Daniel.]

I have 2 real life friends I actually like. The others I hang around with when I'm bored but don't like them too much

I have a few I met online

[Daniel.]

I had a Gay Friend from Texas called Michael I met online but now we don;t talk

[Christmas Dynasnow]

I have no internet friends as such

Im not a particularly friendly person tbh

[Santa's NaughtiNess]

I have no internet friends as such

Im not a particularly friendly person tbh

Neither am i. I've always struggled to make friends. :laugh:

[Christmas Dynasnow]

Neither am i. I've always struggled to make friends. :laugh:

:hehe:

We are lonely renegades cocking a snoop at friendly society

[Santa's NaughtiNess]

:hehe:

We are lonely renegades cocking a snoop at friendly society

Lone wolves. :dance:

[Princess]

I've met a load of my online friends(about six off this site alone) but I still have online friends I've yet to meet and would consider friends. One of my online friends, Cate, I would consider one of my best friends besides the fact I've never met her(she's coming over from America next year, eeek).

But we talk daily(in the year we've been speaking there's been 10 days if that where we've not touched base), Skype weekly, tell each other everything and understand each other better than anyone and yet because there's an ocean in the way it's not considered as valid a friendship to some people? It's strange.

Anyway, yes I consider online friends as important as real life friends.

[Jake.]

Who here is my friend

[Ramsay]

I have a friend on twitter called BoBo but that's about it

[LukeB]

Who here is my friend

who wouldn't be your friend?

[InOne]

Yeah I'm close to a few people online and definitely consider them friends.

[user104658]

Well, I met my wife online (a student forum) and we talked exclusively online for 14 months before we met so I guess that counts? We talked all day every day for over a year. Literally all day. Like... 12 to 14 hours... And my friends used to go mental at me when we were out as I was always on my phone. Haha... We watched films and TV together as dates and everything. Excellent students both of us, you can tell, didn't skip all my classes because I was too busy chatting all night or anything... :D

I've had plenty of other forum buddies over the years, only one I'd consider an actual friend, given that we talked on MSN almost daily for something like 9 years, and have been talking overall for almost 11. I'd call it a sort of online siblingish relationship. Have sort of lost touch since MSN went down the pan, though... Which is sad, really, as she probably knows me better than the majority of (if not ALL of) my real life friends. And certainly better than my actual sister does.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

yes :flutter:

[Jake.]

who wouldn't be your friend?

truth