Do you consider online friendships real? Do you value them as much as you value your "real life" friendships?

Question

Assuming that you talk to your online friends very often, you've seen their faces on video calls and you know they're not catfishing you. You could even have talked to them on the phone. Also you and your friend or friends want to meet in person.
I have a friend who doesn't believe in online friendships. My sister doesn't believe in them either.
I believe that an online friendship can be real, as long as there's trust, openness, honesty, care and good communication. And I do value them as much as my "real life" friendships.

Blackcupcake · Accepted Answer

I definitely think they are real, just as real as the "real life" friendships but it's just different... I made my first online friends here on GaG, and they're some of the greatest people I know, very genuine and lovable people and I don't consider them any less of a friend than my real life friends.
Of course I would love to meet each and every one of them in real life, but that's difficult when we all have different lives in different parts of the world. But that doesn't make the friendship any less real, genuine or valuabe🥰

Cherry234 · Accepted Answer

Not all online friendships are real. The same applies to real life friendships. Some people are fake and will catfish you. You have to be careful about who you interact with online and irl too. Sometimes people will dislike you or won't even want to talk to you if they find out something about you they don't like. One guy doesn't want anything to do with me just because I wrote something he doesn't agree with. I decided to block him because of that and because I thought he wasn't being very nice to me

ChrisMaster69 · Accepted Answer

Yes up to a point online can be really good friends as you can open up to them and relax.

one of my good bunches of friends are from a Car forum where I’m a Mod.

initially it was mainly online chatting and stuff, then we started having car meets around the country. Then we progressed to trips to Europe, Le Mans, Italy, The Ring, Germany etc

we still chat online, Instagram and What’sApp, it makes it odd as we introduce new people to the group and they go from online only to real world.

Red_Arrow · Accepted Answer

One of those "sometimes" questions. I have one online friend that I have been with them through a lot. We have opened up a lot to each other and know some pretty deep secrets. I have messaged her, emailed her, and called her, over many years. A lot of trust between us. If I ever get in her part of the world, I will meet her in person. A lot closer friend than many friends I see daily.

Sawyerblu · Answer

I have never met one of my best friends despite being friends with him for 10 years!

He lives in Michigan and I’m in Texas and we’ve never been to each other’s state. Despite not having met him in person, he is one of my favorite friends and we can depend on each other for anything. It’s really helpful that we’re opposite gendered because we can ask for relationship advice and understand it from the male and female perspective.

I highly value his friendship and would place our friendship higher than a lot of the people I know in person. It’s kinda refreshing being able to talk about anything and everything and know that I won’t be spread to other people. Our conversations are confidential and judgement free and we’ve even made marriage pact if we’re single at 35 lol.

Our friendship is very real 🤍

Apulu_3 · Answer

Yes online friendship can be true but it is very rare. Half of the accounts are fake and many don't have any intentions of a good friendship instead they are just fake friends. But yeah there are true friends and many people don't believe that as they are very few than cyber bullies. I also have a really great friend in this website and we share same interests so we aren't bored of each other. Anyways precautions is better than cure. I hope you understand what I mean. If a person seems great for few days that doesn't means he/she is a true friend. If we are talking online it is very much important not to ask much information (it will make you look like a creep) and never give much information.

lilyanony1 · Answer

I try to be genuine in all my endeavours in life.
That includes online friendships.
I Don't engage in online relationships simply because for me they feel like a waste of time. They're living the other side of the world. I'm not rich, this isn't a fairytale. There are things like visas and there's no guarantee you'll get one.
There's the long distance, the harsh reality that the fantasy doesn't live up to what we think it will.
That to me is a waste of time and heartache I really don't need.

Rachel794 · Answer

My previous online friendships didn’t exactly work out. There was a lack of trust on both sides and conflict never got resolved. I also felt my Christian views were not being respected even though I broke my back respecting them back, they didn’t want to return the favor. I’m hoping to start over, starting with Girls ask Guys.

LinaDaGoddess · Answer

Yes, I’ve known a girl since I was in hs and we’ve never met in person.. I consider our friendship to be very important.. she’s a very important person because regardless of our interactions being behind a screen, she’s been a great friend to me. She’s very positive and supportive, and I know that we both mutually care for each other..

penneva581 · Answer

Yes, they are definitely real. It's just a bit harder to keep those friendships going bc you never see them irl. I feel like it's a lot easier for me to open up to people online. Sometimes it feels kind of weird tho bc I can't imagine what their daily life is like or meet their family yknow.

NewgodX · Answer

No, humans in general don't value people who they don't see or touch or hang out with,, well i can't lie I have no friends in real life and no online friends as well but I can say it for a fact that i would value a person I can go to movies or hang out on Sunday afternoon then a person who just texts replies

Dude_777 · Answer

Online friendships with whom i never met. I don't value them, and i don't make online friends, unless they are linked via some mutual friends who know them in real and then there is only "chance" that i make them friends.

I may talk to people online occasionally, but making them friends is not really an option for me in most cases.

Online friendships with whom i met in real for a good time period or was in real friendship with, but they are far away now. I value them.

And most of the people looking for online friendships are pretty big losers, pretending to be someone they are not. Obviously there are good people out there, but majority are waste of time.

I already have so many wonderful friends and family, that i do not feel the need to make more online friends.

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loveslongnails · Answer

The majority of my online friendships turned into real meetings. Some of the friendships lasted, others did not. Only recently was I deeply affected by someone I met here, but hey - that's life. Only a very few people ever come into your life and remain there.

DiegoO · Answer

Hmmm. I treat online friendships differently. Whatever affects you emotionally is real enough. Would I like to know in person my online friends? No.

The online world is interwining with the "real" world, more than ever, in this era called the digital era. Even if its the case, both worlds shouldn't be approached the same.

legalboxers · Answer

I value my online friendship more than my real life friendship. Total strangers have my back. No one in real life dont.. Or shall I say people who are physically here, people who I talked to on the phone who aren't physically present (thought I should clarify that)

kc_4308 · Answer

Nope online dating or meeting people don’t work for me. I recently had a so called friend ditch me from a Facebook group and I wouldn’t call him a friend because we never met. I’m a visual person and prefer meeting and dating people face to face. Anything online no..

Nomina · Answer

My closest friend and I met on a forum years ago. We've been there for each other through good and dark times. Yet we've never met in person.

Online or in real life, I'm very picky but when I consider them a friend, it's real.

NicoletteXO · Answer

I think it depends on the nature of the relationship.

But in general, I don't think online friendships are even remotely real compared to real life ones. Basically, for the most part, it's two people projecting around their idealized images of the other person - it's rarely grounded in truth.

That said, there are always exceptions.

readyplayer001 · Answer

1 or 2 but the rest not really, most are people who get to know a little about you and vice versa, dont answer when you check in with them, then only contact you back when they need something or need to vent other then that its all fakery no one wants to put effort in unless its all about them. so---

Shizunk · Answer

Most of my long term contacts are people I knew in real life who then moved away but continued to write mesaages. That is fine.
I had a great relationship for months with a girl who ended up living with me for 7 years after. And it's not like the months leading up to it don't count. But I never had a pure online friendship survive without the explicit expectation to turn it into something else relatively soon. So I am a bit skeptical.

Diodoro · Answer

I always did. Friends I gamed with near daily. Spent hours together. So many inside jokes, references, shared our IRL stories/days. I'm closer with some people I met through online gaming than I am with some people I knew for years in person.

What you Bond over means something in my opinion. Actually just mailed one of them a bday gift couple weeks ago

Flower7 · Answer

Yes, I feel like they are real. I have more friends from a distance than I do in person.

mrcurious2020 · Answer

I've met good friends online. I only got scammed once. I had just broken up with someone I had met online in person. I knew them for about five years. I was in a rush to meet someone else but it was just a fake picture they used.😞
Happened a long time ago but I'm over it now😊

GaGirls · Answer

So my best friend moved away. She is now my online friend. Is she not my friend now? Distance does not negate friendship. Friendship need no permission of distance.

tiajoka · Answer

Eh. They tend to be less of long term friends, because if there's drama; most of them will cut you off easily. People are impatient these days, and the internet only enables that mentality.

TheSpaceGnome · Answer

Typically my online friendships either started as, or become offline friendships, but I see no differece between the 2, other than the online ones I tend to know way more about the person than I do with the offline ones. Because people usually don't walk around with profile bios or daily updates written on their shirts.

DizzyDesii · Answer

I honestly dont value friendship no matter if in person or online. But i do like to checkup on people from time to time to make sure theyre still alive. As for exes, nah… fck them hoes

NathanDavis · Answer

yes, they are very much real people than bring genuine good and great stuff into my life... and many of my "IRL" friends I can only reach them online at the moment being

t-8900 · Answer

online friendships feel more real to me personally because before we chill or something i can expose my skeletons and see weather or not they're willing to embrace me as a friend still.

Mangospacho · Answer

My online friend would do anything to help me. They would help lend me money, help me move, or even take a bullet for me. I think they do, at least. I haven’t actually asked them though. I should probably ask instead of assume.

LivAndLearn · Answer

No I don't. I've learned that people act much differently through a screen that in person.

nonratracereality · Answer

The question for you is are they real to you? Yes or no. Consider is not fact and teters left or right with no concrete answer. Online is harder due to the fact there us no in person meeting. Your visual and subliminal attitudes, dispositions, issues and overall outcome of situations are not the same. Like technology use it or not like a switch. In my 20 years of internet only met 1 real person. What you put in is definitely what you don't get back.

KingofCups · Answer

Lol not a chance. I mean who the fuck really can believe that. 'Online friends' might as well be AI technology. Outgrew that shit in the post Xbox Live Era. You gotta have real friends, that you can touch and feel.

InferiorElegy · Answer

I'd say no only for the fact I have neither.
It's hard for me to trust people as friends online because they don't know me or what I look like and when I do open up to them and show them what I look like, well my track record so far is that everyone ghosts me after seeing what I look like.

Static_In_The_Attic · Answer

A friendship is a friendship online, offline or imaginary.

Browneye57 · Answer

They can be if you ever actually meet up. Online is more virtual - back in the old days they called it a 'pen pal'. :)

Aiko_E_Lara · Answer

Of course they are. They are still real people. But of course they can be fake friends. It's no different when it comes to people in real life being fake friends as well.

naraku · Answer

Of course. A person offering friendship is just that. Just because you might not know them in the flesh doesn't mean anything to me, said person can still be important.

Plus online gives you the chance to meet people globally. In the past this may never of happened or been a lot more difficult.

YHL6965 · Answer

I value them, especially if we have got close and we voice chatted or even video chatted. I can't just pretend there is nothing just because we can't interact in person.

SunnySensei · Answer

Well, I try to consider them real but sometimes it doesn't work out.

Grond21 · Answer

I absolutely believe in online friendships. I met my best friend on this very app

red_knight · Answer

I think I do.. for example you and I have had very wholesome and meaning full deep discussions many times

EssenceOfLight · Answer

Yes, I value online friends in same way like real life friends. However I don't have especially high expectations in regard of my friends, they come and they go. If you have nothing to offer you stop to exists for 99% of them anyways.

AshleySeeks · Answer

I have tons of friends on kik and I consider them real friends. Some I've known for years and tell them everything..

CinemaMack716 · Answer

It's no different than a penpal. People I hang out with in person are deserving of the title, "friend".

Laura456 · Answer

Yes, I have met some awesome people on here. They are def lifelong friends even if we will never meet in real life f2f.

bannacookies · Answer

Yes. They can be. It's just harder online because you don't want to accidentally come across catfishes & trolls.

GhostMochi · Answer

I personally don't consider any friends real. Online or irl, they're all fake.

Silas_314 · Answer

No, of course not. Such "friendships" aren't real, because you haven't even met the person in person yet.

spartan55 · Answer

You are extremely naive and should listen to those close to you.

Retiever · Answer

Yes , these days it’s hard to get to know people either way. I mean people can just as much to your face about themselves as they can on the internet.

collie22 · Answer

on line friends are nice and i really like them probably not as strong as in person friends

Jamie05rhs · Answer

To a certain extent. Obviously there are limitations. But yeah, they're real.

dudeinohio · Answer

Just as friends... yeah... I consider them real friends

Bklynbadboy12 · Answer

Yes I do if I call you my friend I really mean it that's not a term I use loosely but I've a lot of people don't see it the way I do

SasukeNinjaSword · Answer

People can be fake online, so I don’t really see them as real friendships.

psosweet5 · Answer

No, online friends are not real. I would not value them like others.

LemiaOfThunder · Answer

Most of my friends today I met online

Yourfriend2021 · Answer

Yes I agree with you, people are people.

Morgador · Answer

A friend is a friend period

aintnocandle · Answer

I only have online friends and I value them

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Lol no.. people online are total strangers.

WowwGirl · Answer

The ones I speak to outside here yes

sensible27 · Answer

What do you mean "real"?

Do you consider online friendships real? Do you value them as much as you value your "real life" friendships?

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How much do you value “online friendships” do you have any people on this website or others that you consider real friends?

Do you consider online friendships real? Do you value them as much as you value your "real life" friendships?

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How much do you value “online friendships” do you have any people on this website or others that you consider real friends?

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