Do you say "real life" or "real friends"?

Of course, I do not find anything wrong in calling the friends made offline as "real life" friends. The reason is, I've met them really, in person - so I call them as "real-life friends" What else should I call them, Is there any specific terminology for it? The reason why I do not call them as "offline friends" is, if my online friends get offline, they also become "offline friends", is'nt it? It becomes hard to distinguish then, no? As for the online friends, I met them online and I've known them through Internet and hence call them as "online friends" Or even "Internet friends". That is, there is a medium( in the form of Internet) between me and them, we are not directly connected. Analogically, this is like saying "I watched the Soccer match in real" and "I watched the soccer match on television" - can you sense the difference? If I blow out a flying kiss to you, can I say I *really* kissed you? No? Why no? Because, there's a medium in between us - no direct contact:( LOL! After all these blah blah, what really counts is, how much we value our friends internally, at heart, not the terminologies used to differentiate them. The language is just a medium between two individuals, and its usage is fair and acceptable in any way as long as we can communicate to each other understandably. As far as your last question is concerned, I've always pondered my online friends in par with the ones I've met offline / real-life / whatever name you wish to give them. In fact, some of them even more than those from real life. So, guys and gals, please understand my love for you all..lol I_LUV_U_ALL :p

I agree with you 100% hun that weither they are friends you have met on MyLot or any other computer place they are still your friends. I never use the word real when talking about online vs offline. I either just say online, offline, or I don't and just say friend(s). Have a good weekend hun! Luv & Hugzz, PurpleTeddyBear.

I don't use the word "real life" or "real friends," but yes I have also observed on net many people doing so. I think such people are mostly are either those who don't consider people on internet as REAL PEOPLE or may be they want to make others feel that they are for real LOL! But whatever it sometimes feels really funny when somebody says like that. Recently I chatted with a guy and he used REAL word too many times and I didn't keep laughing at his sentences because they were so artificial kind of I felt. Anyway, nice observation and nice topic. Happy Mylotting!

I do. But not in the context that most people use these phrases. Like I have a friend from mylot that I talk to often online. She's a real life friend even though I don't see her in my daily life. I think, when people refer to online friends not as "real life" friends it is meant as the fact that they don't see them in their daily life. So in some ways it's not "real life" because online isn't always "real life" if that makes any sense. When I use "real life" though it's typically because I'm lame and I'll talk about things like "My Shia"... who is Shia LaBeouf, an actor and obviously NOT mine. So in real life, he's not "my shia". but I always refer to him as such cause it's more fun not to live in "real life" sometimes does any of that make any sense?

although everything that is done online is part of that person's real life, i still tend to differentiate by saying in "real life" or "online" when talking about things or people. it doesn't mean that i don't think of them as being real, because i do. i've met many people online and considered them friends and then even met some of them offline after a while - including my boyfriend who i now live with. but it's just something i do and have always done, for years.

I do't know why you have such question."real"?I think our life is reality .though we often online with computer to write some words about his or her thought .they want to say some thing about thire difficult.I think we should live in our real life .Dot be afride of your difficult.you can do what you want to ,you must believe youself.

I do not understand real or fake. But understand, when I write something of my friends topic I am real but the words I type is real but may not true

Yes... I do use the words "real life" a lot... because the internet is actually "virtual life"... which is only a picture of real life. I don't talk about "real friends". You have to put a lot of work in... into making friends. And to me... friendship is something of a commitment to each other. It is very deep. If I had such a friendship on the internet... I would want to meet that person in real life. Friendship on the internet... is a bit like friendship amongst children in primary school. It does not mean much... unless you get serious about it. My guess would be that it is a lot easier for teenagers to make friends on the internet... than it is for adults. But maybe... I am just a difficult person to please. lol

A friend is a friend. It doesn't matter if you met them in person or not.If you are friends you are friends. To be friends all you need is to have something in common and have feelings for the other person.where is it written that you have to see the person for that to happen?Before there were computers there were pen pals. People would write their Friends and most of them never met in person. So why should friends on My Lot be any different.

I totally agree with you on this one. My online friends - some of them I've had for several years - are just as "real" as my offline friends.

I think I got into the habit of saying, in my "real life" etc, cause I belong to the Lord Of The Rings fanatic plaza where one talks or speaks of themself in a role-playing character at the various forums--over there I'm a Wizard named Pyewacket (like, duh--LOL) but then on the off-topic forums one will often say in RL, meaning Real Life So no, it's not that I don't think of my friends on-line any less "real" just a weird habit from my thing over at LOTR Plaza

I was actually waiting to see a discussion like this. I am a culprit in using these phrases. I don't really know why I do. Lack of a better word? Or maybe because I am very different in person than online? Many people look at me as shy or introverted. Others say outspoken/outgoing. I am a gemini. LOL But I honestly have become so close to people online that many have become closer to me than people who see me in the flesh.

Hi Lecanis, I dont think I use the term when referring to someone I am friends with online. I have quite a few online friends and I just mention them by name and continue on with what Im saying. I get an odd look from peole sometimes when they ask where I know them from. I guess most people feel that unless you have a physical relationship with them, and by that I mean being around them in person, that they arent really considered a "friend". I think anyone I make a strong connection with can be my friend, online or off. I may not see these people everyday or talk with them on the phone, but to me they are still my friends! Bay Lay Gray xx

I never say my real friends. My friends on here and on other message boards are my friends. THey aren't my virtual friends. But I do say in real life when I'm referring to something on TV. Actor X is married to actress X in real life, but on the show, she's married to actor Y. Something along those lines.

Hello lecanis,hmmm I can understand what you mean lol,for meI give lot of importance in friendship related issues andI personally make distiction between reallife friends andonline friends.When we are online most of us hiding behind an username and not use our real name and real identity, for our own safety and security, also there are official and social positions related issues that most of us cant really use it and maybe that is why the giant online companies started the concept of username rather than the real name. Online friends are great to get share new ideas emotions,exchange of thoughts and pleasure but you can hardly find a online friend beside you when you need in your own real life in real situations where you need his/her physical presence to deal with that rel life problem in your favour as a friend or your backup and the cause is simple you really dont know the real person behind the username and he/she is actually a stranger, if you enter inside yahoo chatrooms most of the girl usernames we get to see are actually guys! and thats true these guys looks for lesbians or Couple cams and the couple thinks girls are enjoying with them so they kickout all the guys and let the girls inside their prv room lol also I know some girls as well as guys who are getting almost blackmailed by their online partners as they discussed their own very personal life related problems then revealed their original identity later on to get real help from them in person,if you consider my points and think about it I hope this issue will not drive you crazy anymore lol.

I've never really actually thought about it but yes, I do use the "real life" bit. That's mainly because others understand that you mean your life away from the computer. I haven't used it in relation to friends and I guess this is because I've had so many friends online and they disappear within a heartbeat, even after saying we'll always be friends. One of my closest (well for me anyway) online friends turned on me and siided with someone else against me once. I admired and believed in this person even though a lot thought her shallow and not a true friend. I stood by her when things got rough and really believed we were friends. That hurt me quite a bit and left me feeling rather alone....those were real feelings I can tell you. I guess because of that, I take on-line friendship with a grain of salt.

Lol no. I have real friends who I only get to speak with online, or usually can only speak with online. So I refer to friends and friends period, my life online and off is referred to as exactly that; online or offline. They're both very real a very much apart of my life..just two facets of it.

I never really thought of it that way...I do use those terms although now that I'm thinking about it I can't figure out a reason except that I'd seen other people using those terms. My friends here in mylot are more real than the friends I have here where I live. My life here in mylot is more real than my life off the computer because I don't have to pretend on here. I suppose that could be a reason for using the term...if I said I have no friends I might hurt the friends I do have here when all I really mean is that I don't have friends here where I live. Same with if I said my life is really miserable right now. My life here off the computer is but my life at mylot is really great.

Online life vs offline or "real" life, doesn't really aply to me. I don't really lable that one way or another usually. When people ask me what I like to do, I just include anything I like to do online as part of my ordinary life. I say something like, "I like to read, rollerskate, chat, hang out, surf the net, camp...etc. etc....". So I just group everything together, not clarify what's online or offline. I would never say real friend vs. online friends. I have, when clarification was necessary, said online friend or offline friend. Real friend vs online friend? I don't know what that means. It might sound strange, but some of my BEST friends are online friends.