Inspired by a recent thread, I felt that a topic like this is almost necessary, and I also want to give my 2 cents on the matter at hand. But before I go any further I'd like to ask future participants some questions
Do you find these 2 (online friends and real life friends) compatible and do they correlate? Or do you think that there's a fine gap between these 2?
How impactful is the geographical distance to you?
How do you cope with the fact that you may never see these people in your life? And how much of an influence were these online friends?
Do you value these types of interactions more than the "actual" ones?
Now, before I go any further, I'd like to address that most of my beliefs stem from my conservative point of view (on nearly everything), and that's probably not going to change. As well as believing that there isn't an explicit definition of word "friendship". I, myself, don't really believe in "online friendships" all that much. It's limited and I'll try to explain why as best as I can, even tho I may come out as a bit of a grouch. Physical perception is superior and way more straighforward. It's more fun and you have a good representation of what kind of personality your companion is. You don't really get the same experience online (minus the fun part, but that's completely up to you). You're mostly texting, you cannot feel other participants as the emotions aren't as clear.
You're limited in knowing other people since you subconsciously perceive them as bots (please don't take this out of context, think and/or read twice), you're not fully aware of their mood swings. You just don't sense them in a way. Now you may use the advantage of technology (voice chat, webcam with others/video chat etc.). This way you're definitely knowing each other to a larger degree, but at the same time it takes way more time and effort just so you can say that' now, you're on equal footing vs. the other (real life). But is that really the case? Cause how I see it is that it's only a step closer but it's still not enough to satisfy your social interaction needs. A lot of this has to do with psychical freedom of choice. You can do whatever the fuck you feel like doing and that only furthers your bonding with another person.
Now, before I end this I want to share a story.
So, we were in highschool, and as a goofball I am, I would alway meet a lot of interesting personalities . Some were fucking geniuses and some were nutjobs (thankfully, I distanced myself from these kind of people before they could influence me in a negative way). It was late spring/early summer, I was a highschool graduate and as you may expect, we had it easy. We would often cut class and teachers would let it fly. And there I was, stuck in a group class that I didn't particularly find that interesting (the people in it, not the subject). We had a 10 minute class before our teacher dismissed us. And as an edgy boy that i am (i'm only memeing), I decided to have some me time and go grab a coffee alone. By entering this one caffee, I stumbled upon a familiar face. We weren't friends by any means, but we knew each other relatively well. He came alone, just like me. I greeted and asked him what he was doing (I didn't really care, but it's the easiest conversation starter). He said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm just talking to some friends", and as I glanced over I noticed him talking in english. I knew that he wasn't stupid so I went along with it. At first I started joking around and soon enough it led to a serious debate. He would keep stating that he values his online friendships more, and as we talked more, he started talking more and more about his depression. He was an emotional mess, and it piqued my interest. We talked for a few more minutes and it became apparent to me that it was due to his lack of physical interaction. And as he would keep on ranting, I'd remember my grandma and how she'd always tell me to turn off my ps2 and go out to play with other kids. As a nice guy I am, I told him to go out on saturday with me and my friend group, that he doesn't have to worry if he's shy or anything and that I'll introduce him to my friends in the best possible way. He was quick to reject, it almost seem as he was disgusted by my recommendation. I derailed this topic as tried to cheer him up a bit with my awesome sense of humor. Oddly enough, I stumbled upon him in an unexpected place (classified info), and he didn't seem to be doing much better. And as I want to have a positive mindset I try to distance myself from people like him. Later on, I found a similar thread on this subforum in which our lovely OP reminds me of him, so yea... If you stuck around, maybe you saw a bit of you in him. I just hope I shed some light with this one.
Do you find these 2 (online friends and real life friends) compatible and do they correlate? Or do you think that there's a fine gap between these 2?
How impactful is the geographical distance to you?
How do you cope with the fact that you may never see these people in your life? And how much of an influence were these online friends?
Do you value these types of interactions more than the "actual" ones?
Now, before I go any further, I'd like to address that most of my beliefs stem from my conservative point of view (on nearly everything), and that's probably not going to change. As well as believing that there isn't an explicit definition of word "friendship". I, myself, don't really believe in "online friendships" all that much. It's limited and I'll try to explain why as best as I can, even tho I may come out as a bit of a grouch. Physical perception is superior and way more straighforward. It's more fun and you have a good representation of what kind of personality your companion is. You don't really get the same experience online (minus the fun part, but that's completely up to you). You're mostly texting, you cannot feel other participants as the emotions aren't as clear.
You're limited in knowing other people since you subconsciously perceive them as bots (please don't take this out of context, think and/or read twice), you're not fully aware of their mood swings. You just don't sense them in a way. Now you may use the advantage of technology (voice chat, webcam with others/video chat etc.). This way you're definitely knowing each other to a larger degree, but at the same time it takes way more time and effort just so you can say that' now, you're on equal footing vs. the other (real life). But is that really the case? Cause how I see it is that it's only a step closer but it's still not enough to satisfy your social interaction needs. A lot of this has to do with psychical freedom of choice. You can do whatever the fuck you feel like doing and that only furthers your bonding with another person.
Now, before I end this I want to share a story.
So, we were in highschool, and as a goofball I am, I would alway meet a lot of interesting personalities . Some were fucking geniuses and some were nutjobs (thankfully, I distanced myself from these kind of people before they could influence me in a negative way). It was late spring/early summer, I was a highschool graduate and as you may expect, we had it easy. We would often cut class and teachers would let it fly. And there I was, stuck in a group class that I didn't particularly find that interesting (the people in it, not the subject). We had a 10 minute class before our teacher dismissed us. And as an edgy boy that i am (i'm only memeing), I decided to have some me time and go grab a coffee alone. By entering this one caffee, I stumbled upon a familiar face. We weren't friends by any means, but we knew each other relatively well. He came alone, just like me. I greeted and asked him what he was doing (I didn't really care, but it's the easiest conversation starter). He said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm just talking to some friends", and as I glanced over I noticed him talking in english. I knew that he wasn't stupid so I went along with it. At first I started joking around and soon enough it led to a serious debate. He would keep stating that he values his online friendships more, and as we talked more, he started talking more and more about his depression. He was an emotional mess, and it piqued my interest. We talked for a few more minutes and it became apparent to me that it was due to his lack of physical interaction. And as he would keep on ranting, I'd remember my grandma and how she'd always tell me to turn off my ps2 and go out to play with other kids. As a nice guy I am, I told him to go out on saturday with me and my friend group, that he doesn't have to worry if he's shy or anything and that I'll introduce him to my friends in the best possible way. He was quick to reject, it almost seem as he was disgusted by my recommendation. I derailed this topic as tried to cheer him up a bit with my awesome sense of humor. Oddly enough, I stumbled upon him in an unexpected place (classified info), and he didn't seem to be doing much better. And as I want to have a positive mindset I try to distance myself from people like him. Later on, I found a similar thread on this subforum in which our lovely OP reminds me of him, so yea... If you stuck around, maybe you saw a bit of you in him. I just hope I shed some light with this one.