Can Online Friends be real Friends?

Sure. I used to post on a soap board a few years ago and I have stayed in contact with 3 of the girls that I would chat with on that board. One of them and I send each other Christmas cards and Birthday cards. We email back and forth. We have never met face to face but, we are friends none the less. Kind of like modern day pen pals. Basically, Keyboard Pals.

i have more friends online than in "person". my friends have come and gone over the years, but the internet opens up a whole new world for everyone. while you have to be careful who you may chit chat with, i have made a family with people online. i feel like barriers and walls are down, cuz you're not trying to impress with looks, but rather with personalities. most of society has forgotten how to NOT judge a book by its cover. now there is a lot of nonsense going on, and i could tell you i'm a tall thin blond, you wouldn't know if i were or not, BUT i'm not a liar, so i don't put myself out there like that. i stay true to who i am. without giving too much info unless asked, and then i still take caution. but the internet is just another form of communication and i love it! i love my forums, my game rooms, and all the other wealth of knowledge and goodies online. it's all good.

I totally agree with you. I have met some wonderful people here on mylot. Some of them have become real "friends". You can really get to know someone by communicating by the written word. Its like reading a book, the book is better then the movie. Reading the book you can "see" what is going on. I feel like I really know some of my online friends. I just wish I could meet so many of them, maybe someday.

I think my online friends are the closest thing to friends that I have right now outsaide of my marriage. I can always count on a couple of them. I consider them to be my friends online because I have never met them in person either. I am there for some of them and some are there for me.

I have to say that I have met some really wonderful people online. They have touched my heart in a way that I never thought possible. If some would have asked me just three years ago if I thought this could happen, I would have declared them coo coo. But not only is it possible, it is reality for me.

Some online friends can also be real friends and good friends. I soldem make friends online,but once I decide to share my life with online friend,he becomes my good friend but no just a virtual ID. Things are determined bu our attitude toward it. If you are real,he is real.

Hey girlie yes you definitely can be real life friends.I have online friends that I chat with on the phone,messenger email and other sites.I have met a few online friends in person and really love having them as a friend til this day.You are one my wonderful online friends.You and I met here on mylot last year but it seems like we've been friends longer than that.I hope to get the chance to meet you one day because you are a very inspiring person.

Yes, I think they can be. I have formed some strong friendships and talked on the phone with them. I want to meet them all but not sure if that will be possible anytime soon. But hopefully one day. So yes I do think it is possible.

I have better relationships with online people than I do in "real life". I have a real tough time meeting new people as I am very shy and get incredibly nervous around people I don't know. The relative anonimity of the online world takes all that away and makes it much easier to just be myself

Yeah, I agree. I have met people online who have been like 'real' friends to me. They can make me feel better when I'm feeling down. They make me laugh and smile even if we could see each other through pictures only. It's overwhelming that I can share my life with them without any restraints.

I agree. Online friends, though different due to not being able to physcially interact with them, can be just as important and meaningful to you as real life friends. You can be out of touch with your online friends for a time and they are so glad to *see* you again, that the boost to your ego is enormous and so gratifying. You can't always say that about real life friends who immediately start asking a million questions, making judgements and driving you nuts at times. Online friends aren't nosey. They accept you as you are and take you at face value and have different expectations of you, which are often less stressful and much more fun. Give me online friends over real ones any day! LOL

I agree with you completely! I don't have any 'real' friends because I've moved so much and never got settled anywhere. My online friends are with me no matter where I go. There's one group of us that have been together for several years and pretty much go through everything together. One girl from that group I've met several times, two girls from that group are now here at myLot. Several from a previous group met at my house for a weekend of fun a few years ago. These friends are about as real as they get. :)

I believe they can be "real friends" yes. I have been friends with a group of women for about 5 yrs now...all online. I am closer to a few of those ladies than anyone I have ever known in person. It really is no different than when people had pen pals (do people still do that?) I heard of stories where they had written to each other for decades and finally traveled to meet each other. Same thing. Yes, you can be deceived online, and care should be taken certainly, but for the most part you can be just as easily betrayed in "real life."

I myself have met several people online who I consider to be better friends then the ones I know in "real" life. My online friend lives over 5 hours away from me, and has two kids, and while she was expecting her second baby, I had come into some money and went out and bought her a Travel System (car seat and stroller) for her new baby, cause her and her husband we financially struggling. So I myself feel that she is a better friend than the people I know personally, that I can see anytime I want, but choose not too, because they take our "friendship" for granted. So don't let people like your crazy co-worker get you down. Online friends are sometimes more real than your friends in "real" life. And as someone else mention no matter where you go your online friends will still be there, they are just on the other end of your computer, the world, the country, however you want to look at it.

They're real people too so why wouldn't they be real friends? My online friends sometimes know more about me than anyone else.

Most definitely. Even though I do have a few close real life friends, I also have a few online friends too that I consider my real life friends too. Even though we have not met in person, we have a lot in common online and with our life experiences which makes them all the more real to me :)

Friends are friends, regardless of whether they are made online of off. As long as they are able to chat with you, share with you and you are comfortable with them and able to do likewise, it doesn't really matter.

Of course it's possible to develop a real friendship with an online friend, 34momma, and the reason I know this is because it has happened to me. As you said, the intimate day-to-day contact might be missing, but there is truly a bond with online friends. You learn to gauge their moods and know when they need a little extra TLC. You share their joy when they are happy and their grief when they are sad.

i argree with you!!! now i have many friends online,including in mylot. but i think if we are truth and honesty.wherever we are ,we also be the real friends.yes??/

Absolutely =) I'm sure I have mentioned on yuwie how I met my husband. I have other friends that I met online that I later met in person, and many others whom I would definitely meet in person whenever an opportunity came along. I don't know how anybody in good conscience can try to say that an internet friend is not a real friend. There are of course different levels of friendship, but it is not necessary to develop a long and lasting and true relationship with somebody - to NEED to be in person. It makes me wonder what definition people are using to mean 'real friend'. I am a pc gamer so I have been familiar with the term 'real person behind the toon' for years. In fact, my husband and I get together for an annual bbq in LA with other gaming friends of ours and this year will be the 4th one I believe. Sometimes I have found that some people are not exactly what we expect via online contact, but for the most part they are still real people, and lots of fun to see! Maybe your coworker just meant real life friend as far as someone you see daily who lives locally?