Online friends versus "Real" friends - Page 2

WarHead · January 4th, 2002, 01:53 PM

dude.,.,online people are the fucking shit.,.,.,i met my band online.,.i think i met more people online for bands than actually going out to look for people.,., (which is kinda pathetic

)
i think that its easier to relate to people online than in real life.,.,.cuz real life sux..,.,

MetalManCPA · January 4th, 2002, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WarHead
dude.,.,online people are the fucking shit.,.,.,i met my band online.,.i think i met more people online for bands than actually going out to look for people.,., (which is kinda pathetic )
i think that its easier to relate to people online than in real life.,.,.cuz real life sux..,.,

True - because most of us come here to escape that thing they call life. We get enough of it - so we need a break - a place to come and REALLY talk and relate with no BS attached to it.

Analog_Kid · January 4th, 2002, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lina
1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person?

Not that I can recall. I have spoken to a few people on the phone though.

Quote:

2) What do your "real-life" friends think of the time you spend online?

No one that I know has ever given it a second thought.

Quote:

3) Do you consider your internet friends to be "legitimate" friends? Or do you purposefully make an effort to keep the two realms separate? Meaning, do you not let yourself get attached to anyone online because "they're not real"?

It depends. If you connect with a person on a intellectual or emotional level, and keep in regular contact, then I don't believe that you have to have been in the direct presence of each other in order to be legitamate friends. While there are some people who take on a persona very different from their real selves while online, I've always tried to just be myself and I've been lucky in that I have attracted like-minded people with whom I speak online and vice-versa.

That being said, however, I tend not to get too attached to people online. This is simply due to the fact that people's tastes and interests tend to shift rather drastically when it comes to which boards they post at, whether or not they continue to use the same IM or IRC channel, or just loose interest in online conversation entirely. One of the more convenient aspects of the internet is that while it's simple enough to join a board and meet people, it is just as simple to just dissapear one day.

D Mullholand · January 4th, 2002, 04:30 PM

1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person?

Nay. Most of the people (and there's only a handful) I got in contact with through the 'net, are from other (predominantly English-speaking) countries. On this board, there's nobody from Ukraine but me.

2) What do your "real-life" friends think of the time you spend online?

Those to whom I've mentioned this board, have no problem whatsoever - from my descriptions and stories they sense the vast difference between the Opeth/UM board and faceless chat-rooms filled with amoebae.

3) Do you consider your internet friends to be "legitimate" friends? Or do you purposefully make an effort to keep the two realms separate? Meaning, do you not let yourself get attached to anyone online because "they're not real"?

"Online" is only a method of communication, the "net-freaks" who dwell in chat-rooms notwithstanding. The people here are as real as those who I know "personally" - and I feel that we do share a lot. The majority of us are for honest expression and responsibility for our words. Even though we present ourselves with invented "nicknames" and "avatars", everybody seems open and true. I do feel attached to this community, and I have great respect for many of you, even for those whom I constantly disagree with. Plus, here I can discuss many topics which I can't discuss with my off-line friends because of their lack of interest or because of exhausted opinion exchanges with no possibilities of progress.

Darn, I have to scan my pictures and post them - I have some really cool shots.

Andrew Orel (aka D Mullholand)

Sullen Jester · January 4th, 2002, 05:45 PM

I have few friends in "real life", a life which is meaningless.

I have more friends on the internet, and they are much better than the people I know here. The friends I have here, are good friends, because I spend more time with fewer people.

I can still relate and talk to certain people in the internet more openly. I have more in common (Though still a lot in difference) to them, two of them to be specific, and I know noone in person with that much in common with me.

Jim LotFP · January 4th, 2002, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lina
1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person?

Dozens and dozens. It's the entire point of being online. Every one of my friends since I moved to Georgia in 1992, and every one of my lovers, I met online. I just don't really talk to people in real life, because there's no outward reason to. Online, take for example every last person in this forum, I have something in common with, and I can 'scout' them before ever talkign to them. In real life, all you have is their physical body to go on at first, which means NOTHING. I've always thought talking to people in real life is a waste of time, because you have NO idea if they're shit, and telling people to piss off once you find that out is a pain in the ass. I get around most of that by just hanging out online and seeing who's cool.

S4R · January 4th, 2002, 08:02 PM

1) I have never met anyone I talk to online in person, but it goes without question if I ever do, I want it to be people from this forum.

2) Many of my "real" friends talk as much if not more so than I do online. My roommate talks online most of the day in fact, but only with people he knows, he has never formed an online friendship. I find that weird because with the internet you can form a friendship minus the BS that goes along with meting someone in person initially, online you can get right to "it"

3) I most certainly do consider internet friends, friends, I see the internet as yet another place to meet people, not a foreign landscape where one can never truly know people. I see no reason to separate the people you have met and the people you meet online. Granted it is slightly more difficult to gauge things in the beginning on the internet, but the pace online catches up quickly. A friend is a friend.

YaYo · January 4th, 2002, 10:44 PM

LINA YOU STOLE MY THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

actually for about a month ive been meaning to write this exact thread but never have, coz im too lazy..

i have 3 internet friends, i love them all, but god knows what they really think of me, half the time i think they dont really care, but then thats just me, they talk to me all the time so they must.

Im meeting one of them in March and that will be the first time. (kinda nervous about that!)

and yeh i know stuff about all my online friends that none of their real friends know, and vice versa. (and i mean big important things.. ). But i dont know what they are like to 'hang around with' or anything.

Internet friendships are different, in some ways they are better, in other ways they arent. And so the best thing is to have good friends in real life, and good internet friends... with those you get the best of bost worlds.

(and of course anyone on this board can feel free to msg me on icq or anything, i'd love to get some new internet friends with similar interests!

)

Eclipse · January 5th, 2002, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim LotFP

Dozens and dozens. It's the entire point of being online. Every one of my friends since I moved to Georgia in 1992, and every one of my lovers, I met online. I just don't really talk to people in real life, because there's no outward reason to. Online, take for example every last person in this forum, I have something in common with, and I can 'scout' them before ever talkign to them. In real life, all you have is their physical body to go on at first, which means NOTHING. I've always thought talking to people in real life is a waste of time, because you have NO idea if they're shit, and telling people to piss off once you find that out is a pain in the ass. I get around most of that by just hanging out online and seeing who's cool.

come on, man. You're just shy, or afraid to talk to people.

~Zeanra~ · January 5th, 2002, 08:21 AM

1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person?
Yes, I've met some, but I've like to meet all of them

Those who I've met have been really nice people here online, but in person they've been even nicer. I've got wonderful eternal (?) friends. One example is Eddy (from Maiden board) who I met yesterday

2) What do your "real-life" friends think of the time you spend online?
They don't really understand it

They think that all you do online is have cyber sex and stuff, so....But I've tried to make them understand that here are really nice, intelligent people too...Maybe some day they'll understand

3) Do you consider your internet friends to be "legitimate" friends? Or do you purposefully make an effort to keep the two realms separate? Meaning, do you not let yourself get attached to anyone online because "they're not real"?
I think internet friends can be "real" friends too, I don't separate them. Like I said, I've met people from internet and got some awesome friends forever.

Lakestream · January 5th, 2002, 09:27 AM

1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person?

yes, I have. Developed into "real" friendship. Met every now and then IRL and been to a couple of concerts together.

Misanthrope · January 5th, 2002, 09:39 AM

Quote:

1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person?

2) What do your "real-life" friends think of the time you spend online?

3) Do you consider your internet friends to be "legitimate" friends? Or do you purposefully make an effort to keep the two realms separate? Meaning, do you not let yourself get attached to anyone online because "they're not real"?

1)Mmm...i dont think so.

2)Right now they dont mind, but this wasnt always like this. I got kicked out of my band cause i expended too much time on internet and they say it was easier to use another guitar player than calling me on the phone, of course i was not confronted with this i was just betrayed for a year. Some other pseudo friends in real life have complained but generally fall flat when they propose things for me to do instead of the net.

3)I never make an efford to keep the realms separated, ive even been inlove with a person i only knew on the net. It was a mistake but not because of the net but because of the person herself but i rather not give any painful details. I usually mistrust all people in internet, but those who make an efford to reach out to me ( like Blackspirit

) and are not bother by my usual boring aspect in the net ( something happens to me on the net but i have nothing to talk about ) i usually start liking and can grow pretty close to. There is no difference to real life friends to me i have almost the same hard time to make friends on the net that i grow to consider them real friends, inconveniences to talk to them only or seen them only in picture dont bother me, half of my real life friends i only talk on the phone or icq mainly because of their busy life, only difference is that i get to see them from time to time.

Demonspell · January 5th, 2002, 09:43 AM

I've found that online conversation removes all of the awkwardness and physical superficiality of face to face conversation...

Misanthrope · January 5th, 2002, 09:48 AM

If it is the case, it also removes all the romance, but well we are talking about friends so ill shut up

January 4th, 2002, 05:45 PM	#30 (permalink)
Sullen Jester Corporate Executive Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Beneath The World Posts: 2,797	I have few friends in "real life", a life which is meaningless. I have more friends on the internet, and they are much better than the people I know here. The friends I have here, are good friends, because I spend more time with fewer people. I can still relate and talk to certain people in the internet more openly. I have more in common (Though still a lot in difference) to them, two of them to be specific, and I know noone in person with that much in common with me. __________________ Ye who he sought the gauntlet of white facial tissues... Wizards and wandering wisemen.

January 5th, 2002, 08:21 AM	#35 (permalink)
~Zeanra~ Tandtroll Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: es-POO, Finland Posts: 9,310	1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person? Yes, I've met some, but I've like to meet all of them Those who I've met have been really nice people here online, but in person they've been even nicer. I've got wonderful eternal (?) friends. One example is Eddy (from Maiden board) who I met yesterday 2) What do your "real-life" friends think of the time you spend online? They don't really understand it They think that all you do online is have cyber sex and stuff, so....But I've tried to make them understand that here are really nice, intelligent people too...Maybe some day they'll understand 3) Do you consider your internet friends to be "legitimate" friends? Or do you purposefully make an effort to keep the two realms separate? Meaning, do you not let yourself get attached to anyone online because "they're not real"? I think internet friends can be "real" friends too, I don't separate them. Like I said, I've met people from internet and got some awesome friends forever. __________________ Squeek.

January 5th, 2002, 09:27 AM	#36 (permalink)
Lakestream Senior Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Uppsala, Sweden Posts: 1,626	1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person? yes, I have. Developed into "real" friendship. Met every now and then IRL and been to a couple of concerts together. __________________ Aegir's Official Website I have not been the same since, I took on the profession of a devil The world I see in a grotesque light Evil I perform with the gestures of a clown -Arcturus (ps I'm the KoolMac man)

January 5th, 2002, 09:43 AM	#38 (permalink)
Demonspell cheating the polygraph Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: dead between the walls Posts: 15,354	I've found that online conversation removes all of the awkwardness and physical superficiality of face to face conversation... __________________ "There is a concern that the Internet could be used to commit crimes and that advanced encryption could disguise such activity. However, we do not provide the government with phone jacks outside our homes for unlimited wiretaps. Why, then, should we grant government the Orwellian capability to listen at will and in real time to our communications across the Web?"" -- JOHN ASHCROFT, as a U.S. senator, from his Aug. 12, 1997 op-ed piece in the Washington Times, "Welcoming Big Brother."

January 5th, 2002, 09:48 AM	#39 (permalink)
Misanthrope Latin, NOT Mexican. Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: My House. Posts: 11,739	If it is the case, it also removes all the romance, but well we are talking about friends so ill shut up __________________ '...frente a un parque desolado y descuidado por el pasar de los años se encuentra su casa pisoteada por árboles miserables y memorias apenas fuera en el subconsciente..."

January 4th, 2002, 01:53 PM	#26 (permalink)
WarHead Handful of Nothing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Virginia Posts: 608	dude.,.,online people are the fucking shit.,.,.,i met my band online.,.i think i met more people online for bands than actually going out to look for people.,., (which is kinda pathetic ) i think that its easier to relate to people online than in real life.,.,.cuz real life sux..,.,

January 4th, 2002, 04:30 PM	#29 (permalink)
D Mullholand [project closed] Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 874	1) Have any of you met an internet friend in person? Nay. Most of the people (and there's only a handful) I got in contact with through the 'net, are from other (predominantly English-speaking) countries. On this board, there's nobody from Ukraine but me. 2) What do your "real-life" friends think of the time you spend online? Those to whom I've mentioned this board, have no problem whatsoever - from my descriptions and stories they sense the vast difference between the Opeth/UM board and faceless chat-rooms filled with amoebae. 3) Do you consider your internet friends to be "legitimate" friends? Or do you purposefully make an effort to keep the two realms separate? Meaning, do you not let yourself get attached to anyone online because "they're not real"? "Online" is only a method of communication, the "net-freaks" who dwell in chat-rooms notwithstanding. The people here are as real as those who I know "personally" - and I feel that we do share a lot. The majority of us are for honest expression and responsibility for our words. Even though we present ourselves with invented "nicknames" and "avatars", everybody seems open and true. I do feel attached to this community, and I have great respect for many of you, even for those whom I constantly disagree with. Plus, here I can discuss many topics which I can't discuss with my off-line friends because of their lack of interest or because of exhausted opinion exchanges with no possibilities of progress. Darn, I have to scan my pictures and post them - I have some really cool shots. Andrew Orel (aka D Mullholand)

January 4th, 2002, 08:02 PM	#32 (permalink)
S4R gooey Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: .il.us Posts: 8,589	1) I have never met anyone I talk to online in person, but it goes without question if I ever do, I want it to be people from this forum. 2) Many of my "real" friends talk as much if not more so than I do online. My roommate talks online most of the day in fact, but only with people he knows, he has never formed an online friendship. I find that weird because with the internet you can form a friendship minus the BS that goes along with meting someone in person initially, online you can get right to "it" 3) I most certainly do consider internet friends, friends, I see the internet as yet another place to meet people, not a foreign landscape where one can never truly know people. I see no reason to separate the people you have met and the people you meet online. Granted it is slightly more difficult to gauge things in the beginning on the internet, but the pace online catches up quickly. A friend is a friend.

January 4th, 2002, 10:44 PM	#33 (permalink)
YaYo whendaydescends.com Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 4,460	LINA YOU STOLE MY THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! actually for about a month ive been meaning to write this exact thread but never have, coz im too lazy.. i have 3 internet friends, i love them all, but god knows what they really think of me, half the time i think they dont really care, but then thats just me, they talk to me all the time so they must. Im meeting one of them in March and that will be the first time. (kinda nervous about that!) and yeh i know stuff about all my online friends that none of their real friends know, and vice versa. (and i mean big important things.. ). But i dont know what they are like to 'hang around with' or anything. Internet friendships are different, in some ways they are better, in other ways they arent. And so the best thing is to have good friends in real life, and good internet friends... with those you get the best of bost worlds. (and of course anyone on this board can feel free to msg me on icq or anything, i'd love to get some new internet friends with similar interests! )