Do you consider people on the Internet to be "true" friends?

[Acnologia]

I made a thread, the world will now end.

Me? I consider a lot of people of the web to be friends. I know ill never see them unless they happen to live in my country, in my city, in my neighborhood.
I have a friend on the internet who takes relationships on the internet too seriously though, and its caused her great harm, she pretty much dating this guy who didn't feel the same way, cause, well its the internet, and he had a girlfriend in real life. She took it way too harsh and actually overdosed. And now she's in ANOTHER relationship of this type. I want to tell her that she is really making a bad decision on doing it again, but she, and her "girlfriend" may get mad at me and cause a big fuss. So yeah, I'm stuck, but I don't want to see her kill herself.

[Scarlet Wings]

Depends on the person. Two of my best friends right now I only know on the internet. One I'm going to meet at this ACen and the other I'm going to stay at their house for a week during the summer ^_^ .. So yes they can be true friends.

[vixen_wolf]

yeah i guess some of them are alot better and nicer then my real friends the few i have anyways

[zyronet]

hmm..? this is a hard one..
I consider them friends.. yep.. friends.. but i dont know, there's nothing wrong with being friends, just friends... this is really a hard one.. well.. i agree with you, bout if i know them and meet them in person. In the internet world you can be anyone you're not... hmm.. I have seen some people living with lies, and it was such.. sad..
...what's wrong with being yourself..?

[Masali]

Oh sure. But only a select few. I.e. 2. I've been talking to both of them for...god, close to four years. We talk like we've known each other forever and live in the same area or something. One of them should be no mystery, the other only posted like 3 times here.

[hcsurfer25]

I have a couple of friends on the web. Most I have met before, and we chat cause that's the only way to communicate. I have also met some people just by chatting, some good, some bad.... but, what can you do? Those are the chances you take.

For her situation though..... You can only do soo much as a friend. For some people, it may be the only way for them to meet others, due to busy life style. i.e. work, school....etc.

I wouldn't say, let her figure it out on her own.... but, if you get too involved to solve it, you may loose everything in the end? Its kinda a loose, loose situation on your end of the stick?

Internet dating is not too bad. I did it for a little while, nothing platonic, but it was fun! My sister met her husband from it, she currently is still married to him of two years......

People will be people I guess?

[Sailor Lunar Eclipse]

Well I have a couple really good friends online, sometimes WAY better than the ones in real life. I trust one of them to a great extent. The other I trust almost to that extent, but still. I trust them.

[MomijiTMO]

Yeah it is rare to find someone that your really connect with on the net. I have only found a couple of people and I consider these people to be genuine friends. If we lived in the same area, I am sure that I would be at their house all the time ^__^.

[Ichiro Matsuchani]

The only people that you can call true friends are people that you've met in real life. You can call people that you meet on the internet friends, but that doesn't mean that's what they are.

[Alicaryn Silentread]

Depends. On who the person is, how long I've known them how often if ever they have lied or hidden something from me. Its very easy to hide who you are on the internet, so its extremely rare to find a "true" friend on the internet. And what exactly qualifies as a "true" friend? Hehe. I have some friends on the internet that I'm closer to than most in my real life, but I still don't think I'd trust them with anything, because they could be lying completely. The interweb is strung full of lies, so you have to pick and choose and pray that its all the truth!

But yah. I have like...4? Sometimes 5 people that I'd trust with a whole hell of a lot more than some of my in real life friends. But its like Masali said about knowing his 2 for a LONG time, because I've known all 4 or 5 of them for at least two years? ^^'

[~Sakura Haruno~]

yeah i guess some of them are alot better and nicer then my real friends the few i have anyways

Yeah i agree

[-akichan-]

Depends on who i'm knowing over the internet, i do have true friends here and another forum, such with MsAeris, Tsuna, and others (too many to name!).

Sometimes i do consider the friends i met over the internet are true friends because if we don't see eachother, less dramas and less fights occurs. Also depends on how you look at them.

[moon_phase]

no.. not really...i only think that the only true friend are your friends...other that that the people on line are just there.. to tlk to and stuff....they could be ugly 50 year old freaks...

[Red&Stiletto]

Yesh. I have lots of really good friends on the internet. Pickles and Iggy are my closest ones but I do have danie and blue and FMA997. I consider them all dear to me and if I lost one of them it would hurt me as much as it would hurt me to lose a friend I have met in person. So yesh. They are my true friends.



~*Lady

[maximillian_cross]

Yes and No. I think it really depends on who you're befriending with. But for me, mostly, I consider some of them as true and close friends.

[wushuuu]

hmm... for me it will depend.. coz sometimes its hard to trust to people you know only in the net. you dont know what you will do and its better to know him/her very much or have a chance to meet him/her. but sometimes its impossible. everyone knows that you can meet a lot of people through the net that can be your friends but u cant actually meet them all..
but knowing them and having them are the best!

[Eris]

No. I don't consider anyone to be a "true friend." That would make me vulnerable.

[izzy14backstabber]

it depends on how long i've know the internet friends... the answer usually yes rather than no...

[threekings]

Define truth to find your answer. u.u

[Ranshiin]

I don't really have friends of any kind on the Internet anyway o_O; (not since the 'summer of 2006 in AF Chat') so it doesn't phase me if someone hates me or whatever.

I think there are only a handful of people here that I call friends. There was a second handful but that's their problem for thinking they could play me in MSN. >_>;

[_CTA_]

I do know how that girl feel. 2 of my ex-s (one of them happened to be a member of this forum...) are from the chat world. my latest ex, ive been in love with him and went out for 5 months. he actually broke up with me because he didnt love me and just want to make me happy. but after that, I appriciate him so much. he is just like my big bro now. Well, thank god he didnt cheat on me. ^^;a

anyways, just tell that girl to get a bf in real life. because the more she repeat this, she will be hurt like hell.

[Acnologia]

Define truth to find your answer. u.u

Hows about not stealing my sig?

[Sputnik]

I have a couple folk I would say are real chums

[Capernicus]

Internet friends as true friends? As with all friends, you can't be too generous with your trust, and even less so on the internet. I will tell all of you that I do not lie to anyone on the forums (the last time I told a significant lie was over a year ago and I confessed 2 months later). I have maybe 2 friends that I met online that I trust completely (and have known them for over a year, almost 2) and I have one girlfriend that I met online. With friends, be careful, don't get too attached, and gather enough evidence of truth before you make yourself vulnerable to them.

With significant others, it is different. My ex I also met online, and I trusted her so much that I was on the verge of asking her to marry me when she literally dropped off the face of the planet. I have not heard from her since, which is over 7 months. It took me at least half that time to fully get over her, and even now it hurts like hell sometimes. But I have chosen to move on.

The thing is, even if you feel that you can trust this person completely, that you drove hours to see the person, instantly connected, spent days together in each others arms, even then they may be lying. It is very difficult to know when it is safe to trust someone, and you can never know for sure.

BUT, if he openly admits that you are just his online woman, there is no way that you should place that much trust and reliance on him, and certainly not open yourself up to such vulnerability. That's just retardo. Thus, she reaps what she sows. Your friend is a lost cause, and it is advisible to not make yourself vulnerable to it.

[Baka]

Thanks to myspace, I have a couple of really good friends on the internet. One I will never meet in person because she seems to be the shy type and I just can't see her doing something like that. But online I do know her well.

The other friend I am planning to meet in summer of '08. She's in Japan. I would go this summer but I have already made my summer vacation plans(AX) and I won't be able to afford two vacations. Plus, I would like to learn a lot more Japanese before I go.