Online Friendships ... The real thing?

When I think back to a time of adolescence, I vaguely remember the atrocious task of making friends.  (I was a shy kid, with deeply embedded fears of rejection. Making friends for me was somewhat terrifying)

I somewhat remember the - Freckled faced, fashion challenged, mess of a me -  standing idly by, both hoping to gather the courage to strike up a conversation with the gaggle of girls next to me, who sat gossiping about the latest Johnathon Taylor Thomas news, and wanting to blend in with the dirt on the ground unseen. I learned a lot back in those days.

Cut to - making some pretty cool friends throughout those years.

Both friends from my younger years and friends from my adulthood - have either ended in goodbyes, or like now, they continue on as if we are family, regardless of blood ties or the lack thereof.

I was around both when the internet was not a thing, and here now after it has blew up bigger than the Macy’s day parade balloons. I will admit that while the internet holds its dangers. (Stalkers, trolls, whatever.) It’s basically an open invitation to any and all things, good or bad. It is also a very useful tool.  Especially for shy people who might be a little off kilter, a little strange, and oddly tapped – to meet and make friends, much like themselves.  

I was told by a friend – Who I will leave nameless: “Stop texting (Facebooking) her back. It’s not like you guys are real friends.”

That got me to thinking … (Why? Why are online friends not considered real friends to the people you see face to face?) Online friends, or at least the ones I have made – react much the same as my “In person friends.” Some, I consider more like family than the actual family I have. Some internet friends have come and gone, ended in goodbyes, and some, have become like family. Family I may have never met, but if something arose and they needed me – I would fight hell, and high water to make sure I was there for them.

I have been on pretty much every social app you can think of. Myspace, Facebook, Instagram, Mobli, Disqus – I have met and liked, met and lost, met and fell in love with the friendships that grew, from a lot of those internet contacts. I myself, personally, see internet people as real people. Real friends.

If people have taken the time to get to know one another, taken the time to care, doesn’t that make a friendship? 

As always, I hope each and everyone of you, who just so happen to pass by - has a wonderful day ahead. XxDee