Certain people seem to value internet friendships less than in person friendships. Is there a difference between knowing somebody online and actually knowing somebody in person? Do you value in person friendships more because you actually see the person? Do you consider your online friends to actually be friends, or do you treat them more like acquaintances?
As for me, I treat all of my friends equally regardless of how we met. I find that people online are less judgmental and the connections are stronger. I appreciate the people I’ve met online and wouldn’t appreciate them any less if we had met in person. There seems to be less drama online anyway. Some people just can’t be trusted unfortunately.
In your opinion, is there really a difference between internet friends and in real life friendships? Do you believe internet friends should be less valued over in real life friends, or are all types of friendships equal?
I have one best friend in real life of 10 years now, and then just a bunch of acquaintances and people that I know and talk to, but wouldn’t really consider friends. On the other side of things, I have a good number of online friends that I talk to, but it isn’t that often. I’ve gotten to the point where all of my friends both irl and online mesh well with me, and so I don’t think any of them are going to leave me or anything anytime soon. I’m comfortable with them. I would consider friendships to be equal between irl and online as far as value goes for me. I don’t entirely discount my online friendships because I realize and know they’re still good people that I’m talking to. On the other hand, I don’t discount my in real life friendships either. That being said, I’m always open to making more friends!
To me it doesn't matter whether I know someone online or in person, if there is a mutual respect, trust and loyalty towards one another then either types of friendships can flourish for years to come. I actually met my best friend on a forum around sixteen years ago and we're still best friends to do this day despite the fact we don't see each other very often because we live in different parts of country. We talk often through text or DM's on either Twitter or Instagram and before the pandemic we would meet up a few times a year for holidays or concerts.
I value my online friendships just as much as my irl friendships if not more. I tend to have a hard time making friends irl as I prefer to just keep to myself but online I feel more comfortable to just be me. I will say however online friendships (at least in my experience) can end more abruptly as life can get in the way/you can just completely block them out of your life and never hear from them again because it's not like you'll still see them everyday in school, work, etc. But yeah, one of the people I consider one of my closest friends I've never met irl before so I would say I truly value my online relationships.
They're pretty much the same in terms of value and stability for me. You can lose connection just as easy as in real life, or have a really close connection. I didn't keep in touch with any one from high school except with two friends. They've since moved out of state and the only way we now communicate is through Discord. I met their cousin who lives states away through the same server and have been close friends for 7/8 years, and I believe, while it may be awkward at first, we'd still have that close friendship if we ever meet in person. A person is a person, no matter where you meet them.
It's quite difficult for me to befriend others, whether in person or online, due to how shy and overall introverted I am, so I value any friendship I manage to forge haha.
I've had very few close friends overall and some were online while some were in person. I always valued them all the same. It's still a person on the other end of the friendship and if they get you and you have a connection, then it doesn't matter how you met them or whether you can see them in person or not. That's my opinion anyway.
But 95% of the people in my life are just acquaintances. I very rarely open up to someone enough to call them a true friend.
To me, I value my friends online and offline ones equally. I feel like I connect better with people online better than offline though since I am convinced not a lot of my friends understand the severity of my anxiety or share the same values as me always, which has made things a bit complicated at times.
To me, online of offline, if a friend if i don’t hear from my friends for weeks or month, I don’t hold it against them or view it like I’m the one that only reaches out to them or as them abandoning me. I try to understand this with my offline friends too that people get busy and have their own issues. I know my online friends especially are all going through some tough crap in their life and if they need space, I totally understand. Their problems is why I don’t confide in them often; I know all our problems are equally valid to complain about but I feel disregarding their situation to constantly complain about something that isn’t life threatening, would be extremely rude, so I do my best to restrain myself.
In spite of this, I feel like I can be a bit more open with my friends online. I feel so much more awkward with my offline friends and especially when we’re at parties. Talking in chat is always easier than verbally for me.
I value all my friends and feel blessed and grateful for these very special people in my life. Every friendship is different and it doesn’t matter whether online or offline.
This past year tbt has been like a comfort blanket and my friends have kept me going through some tough times. Reaching out and listening. Being there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on. I am so grateful
to me, all friendships are irl ones as even though we might live in separate countries and aren’t able to hang out in person, online friends are still irl friends as my love for them goes beyond the internet. i only have online friends atm as i’m a lot more open and outgoing online than i am irl but i have never and will never value my friends any less just because i'm unable to physically see them. sure, being able to hang out face-to-face could be rad but i love my friends and wouldn’t trade them for anything. all of my friends are equally important and i value them all no matter what.
a friendship is a friendship, whether you know who you’re seeing in person or not. honestly, i find myself more comfortable interacting with people online than in person so my friendships with people i know on the ‘net tend to be stronger than my in-person friendships (...not that I have any of those at this point, because all the IRLs i keep in contact with splintered off after we got our degrees so we’re all in different parts of the country or the world anyway at this point). but in the end i value whoever I’m hanging out with equally no matter where i met them or how i keep in touch with them.
Don’t have any “real life friends” lmao.
Making friends online is a lot easier because it’s easier to find friendships with similar interests and who you connect with more (at least for me).
I don't really have online friends, the closest thing to that is someone who I used to go to school with and switched schools and I talked to him a lot on Discord but we hardly ever talk now. But I guess I prefer irl friendships since there's just so much more opportunity for a friendship to develop into something deeper than what can be possible online but that's just my opinion
For me friendship is friendship. I have some online friends that I really care for, while I've never even met them.
One of my best online friends is sadly working in the army and sometimes he will be gone for months (like currently)
and I'm actually really worried that something happens to him. When he can he gives me updates and also asks how I am, etc.
like a real friend. Meanwhile I have someone else, who says online friends are not real friends and likes to make me clear that
he doesn't see me as a real friend. I still talk to him, but it's honestly sad to hear, because why can't you just see someone you
like to talk to and even seem to care about as a friend? Nobody says you need to be best friends.. just.. friendly friends, idk.
For me it's always going to be Online and Real friendship = Friendship.
I absolutely consider my online friends to be just as true of a friend as my in-person friendships! Especially given the past year where basically all my friendships have become online ones due to the pandemic. I think with online friends there is a little more apprehension initially because there's the possibility the person on the other end could be lying to you about... well everything. Due to this I try and be a little cautious when I'm first beginning to interact with somebody but once we become friends and we have that trust built up I see them as a true friend. Whether we initially met online or in person doesn't affect that, so long as they aren't lying to me about who they are. But even in-person friends have the potential to lie to you about things so it's not as though that's an online-friend exclusive thing.
I know that some people will try to downplay and scoff at "online" friendships and say they're not "real" because you don't get to physically hangout with the person but that's never bothered me. I don't see my in-person friends tons and tons anyways due to work and other things so I value texting, voice calls, video calls, watching tv shows/movies, and playing games together online just as much as I do if I went out to dinner or the movie theatres with somebody. If the value of my friendship was based solely on how often I see somebody in person then my only friends would be my coworkers because they're the ones I see the most, lol.
It's also why I try to word things as online & in-person vs online and real-life because "real-life" to me makes it sound like my online friends aren't real, lol. Which they definitely are! One of my very best friend who I've known for years is somebody I met online and I absolutely value her the same way as I do my best friends that I meant in high school. I think online friendships can be very real and you can get deep and meaningful connections through them they just take a different kind of effort which I know isn't easy or enjoyable for some people.
I personally value both concepts of friends but I feel like my online friendship aren't as talkative compared to my other friendship and that worries me a bit.
online friendships mean just as much to me as real life friendships, all but one of my closest friends are ones i met online! having someone you can talk to any time every day is special to me no matter the environment. i don't mind not seeing each other IRL, or even not seeing each other's faces. i don't get to hang out in real life very often anyways so it's not much of a difference for me, especially since we can still do stuff like voice calls or video games or watching stuff online. it just sucks that it's so hard to meet up IRL with online friends if i ever wanted to X_X
i feel like i have a much harder time finding people i connect with in real life, it's easier online because i can lay out stuff like my opinions, interests, sense of humor, etc all in one profile like this forum or a carrd and then people can decide if they want to befriend me based on that... whereas IRL that stuff isn't as obvious
