Fake Friends? I don't think so

@Rollo1 (16679)
Boston, Massachusetts
January 24, 2016 7:07am CST
I was surprised to receive the package containing my memory sticks yesterday, but very pleased and they are all installed. I notice that myLot still crashes my flash, but that appears to be a problem with Chrome and so I am using Opera right now. I wonder what has been going on around here during my absence. I haven't been around much for a month. I have often wondered what I would do with myself if I weren't online as much, and I still really don't know but there are a lot of half-knitted things lying around and my house is much cleaner than usual. Anyway, a million things went through my head that you might have had to read about if I had been spending time online, but be grateful that you were spared. I read today that out of the hundreds of friends people gather on social media, only about 4 of them are actual friends. I guess it depends on how you define that. I think that if you hang out together and notice when the other person is gone or sad or sick, then you're friends. What makes these researchers think we require their definitions? Well, maybe we don't really know each other, and the researchers would consider that we aren't "real" friends. All I know is that after the Bubblews had burst, the sight of a familiar name here always put a smile on my face. If that's being fake friends, I will take it.
Most of your Facebook friends don’t care about you and probably wouldn’t even sympathise with your problems, according to a new study. Many people have hundreds of Facebook friends. But people can only really depend on four of them, on average, according t
34 people like this
35 responses
@LadyDuck (471217)
• Switzerland
24 Jan 16
I did not need a study to know. Virtual world is not so different from real life. How many REAL friends do we have? I am glad your computer is fixed. My Chrome does not crash on flash.
6 people like this
• United States
24 Jan 16
Mine neither. I think there is more going on when there are problems than just which system people use.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
I am in touch with people online more than I am in the real world, so I don't think the comparison is useful.
5 people like this
• Dayton, Ohio
25 Jan 16
@Rollo1 I have more online friends than I do in the real world. I would agree though, on Facebook only a handful of people are real friends, then another 20 or so are my family. My other 39 people are people who dont care about me!
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
24 Jan 16
I disagree with that study. I keep in touch with more virtual friends than some "real" friends. Happy you are back!
5 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
Diane, your social life is amazing and would exhaust most of us. But I am glad you find time for us online friends.
4 people like this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
24 Jan 16
@Rollo1 I love my online friends, and so happy you are back again!
3 people like this
@Juliaacv (51018)
• Canada
24 Jan 16
Hopefully this means that you'll be back as a regular again, or are you still fixing and tweaking your computer?
4 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
I have to get back into the swing, but I think I will be able to handle myLot now on my computer. No waiting for ages while the letters slowly show up one by one...
3 people like this
@Juliaacv (51018)
• Canada
24 Jan 16
@Rollo1 I get that every so often and I usually have to shut it down and come back to it later.
2 people like this
• United States
24 Jan 16
I use Chrome and that very seldom happens. I tried Opera but it had too many problems.
4 people like this
@Tampa_girl7 (50168)
• United States
24 Jan 16
I have been chatting with you since July of 2014. I think that makes us friends
4 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 Jan 16
Wow, time really flies, doesn't it? That was in my early days on Bubblews. Things have changed a lot, but our friendships haven't. I think it's great that so many of our friends there are here now. I miss some who didn't make the transition, don't you?
4 people like this
@Tampa_girl7 (50168)
• United States
28 Jan 16
@Rollo1 oh yes, there are several that I really miss.
• Dayton, Ohio
25 Jan 16
@Rollo1 I do, I just found Mandy Lynn today. She came to MyLOT just last month. The bubblews bust may have been awhile ago, but they are still finding us. With time, maybe the rest of our friends will come back.
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
24 Jan 16
Lies, damned lies and... statistics!
4 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
Only 20% of people believe in statistics.
3 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
24 Jan 16
2 people like this
@marlina (154131)
• Canada
24 Jan 16
Glad to read something from you again.
4 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
Thank you. I hope to be more active.
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
24 Jan 16
I don't think the friends here are fake, just different. Flash here is glitchy for me too, may need to get my flash upgraded not sure
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 Jan 16
Chrome doesn't let you handle flash or flash updates anymore and that causes some problems for me.
3 people like this
• Centralia, Missouri
25 Jan 16
@Rollo1 ironically I have more issue on the work pc when I have to use foxfire or IE
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
24 Jan 16
I would love to meet some of the social media friends if they lived a little closer - I did meet a few penpals after 20 years of writing to them - so I believe its a possiblity
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
I have met a few people in real life that I first met online and I am still connected to a few people I met 16 years ago online.
3 people like this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
24 Jan 16
Hello from another online friend!
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
Hello right back atcha! You are my only German friend on myLot, though I do have a few German friends on Facebook.
2 people like this
@Fleura (30319)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
I guess real friends are the ones who will actually come and look for you if they notice you have been missing for a while, not easy with virtual friends.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
Sometimes you never find out where virtual friends have gone to and that can be very frustrating and worrisome.
3 people like this
@Fleura (30319)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@Rollo1 Yes indeed, I do miss a couple of people who were keen writers on the site we previously frequented.
2 people like this
• United States
24 Jan 16
I not only noticed, but I missed you. Glad you are fine and back sharing your own delightful brand of humor.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
Sometimes I wish I could view life and the world in the normal way, but maybe that would leave me nothing to write about.
3 people like this
• United States
24 Jan 16
@Rollo1 Don't fret about being true to who you are. You are delightfully quirky.
2 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
24 Jan 16
I think I can probably depend on a few more than four of my Fb friends. Friendship is quite difficult to define because it can mean different things to different people.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
I agree. I think that the science guys need to let us define our relationship terms.
3 people like this
• Philippines
24 Jan 16
I have just started here and I am really glad to see familiar names and faces.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
I am so glad you found your way to myLot! It will be a lot more fun than Bubblews, trust me. Just getting paid makes it much more worthwhile.
2 people like this
• Philippines
24 Jan 16
@Rollo1 oh yes I heard good things about myLot :) so glad to be here.
2 people like this
• United States
12 Mar 16
Funny enough, what you say in your post is mostly how they define a friend in this article. Someone who would express sympathy for your bad news, you talk to on a regular basis, and misses you when you haven't been around. I would push the definition further to say a real friend is someone who you feel comfortable discussing personal issues and short comings with, and would find a way to help financially if a need arose for you...if possible. This being said, I actually believe this article is correct. Simply because there are people in the world who are always trying to get over in real life. Lying to you, telling you what you want to hear, and making things seem good on the surface. But as soon as you need them for something real they disappear. If that is the case up close and in person, than its more than likely what they say is true simply because ITS EASIER TO PORTRAY A FACADE ONLINE. Think about the Catfishing phenomenon. You have track of all the things you have said to a person, you can talk and make it seem that you are actually there for a person because all you have to do is log in and type. Heck you don't even have to use a picture of yourself! But if it came down to something serious, many of them would not be there for you.
@jstory07 (139449)
• Roseburg, Oregon
25 Jan 16
I think you could be friends with people on sites like this one.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
It's good to see you again Anja. I consider myself to have more friends than I have ever had in my life, thanks to Bubblews and Mylot. I care about them, and I think they care about me.
2 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
24 Jan 16
I think it's a good thing to widen our social circles, even if they are virtual ones.
2 people like this
@softbabe44 (5816)
• Vancouver, Washington
24 Jan 16
That seems like it could be true sometimes.
3 people like this
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
25 Jan 16
Some of those so-called fake friends care more about you than people who are supposedly real world friends.
2 people like this
@sgbrown (1638)
• United States
25 Jan 16
I have lots of "real life" friends but only a few that are really close friends. I think I have a few "online" friends here too. I miss them when I don't "see" them for a while and care about what happens in their lives. If that is being a "fake" friend, I will take it too!
1 person likes this