Online Friends Are Real Friends
For my whole life, there was always this stigma towards online friends, honestly just people online in general. Having more friends online than real life seemed like a trait a complete loser would have. While I think that stigma still exists, it exists to a lesser extent. Especially with younger generations who spend a lot of time online.
There was always this sort of side eye you'd get from "the olds" when it came to talking about friends online. Sometimes rightfully so. If you're a teenager and you're "dating" some discord kitten you haven't seen an actual picture of, there's a good chance the person you're bragging about to your parents over the pork roast is named Bubba, weighs 350lbs, and isn't allowed within 100 yards of a school. On the other side, online friends can be some of the best friends you can possibly make.
That stigma has started to die down especially in the day and age where everyone is seemingly chronically online. Your friends that are just a city away from you are practically online friends.
I just got done spending a few nights in an AirBNB with people I've played classic Halo and other games online with for years. This was my first time meeting them IRL.
I'm not generally a nervous person, but I couldn't help but hope that I'd make a good impression and that I'd get along with these guys in-person just as much as online. I got picked up by the server owner of the group I'm in from the airport, and immediately hit it off. We were joking and laughing like there had never been over a thousand miles of distance between us for most of the time we'd known each other.
I spent the next few days getting stoned off my ass in the blunt rotation from heaven, laughing as hard as I had in a LONG time, playing my favorite video games, eating great food, and just overall having the time of my life. It felt nice to have people (who weren't just my wife, daughter, or mom) excited to see me.
I feel like I had done the one in one-hundred-thousand chance of turning online friends into IRL friends. But that got me thinking, what really made the difference between being "online" friends and "real" friends. I don't think there really is a distinction.
I think of a friend who moves away, and that you only talk to online anymore. By all intents and purposes, they're now mostly an "online" friend. But does that really change the bond you made with that person? Is the fact that person is now on a screen for all of your communication make your friendship any less valuable?
To me, my online friends are just as "real" to me as my IRL friends. Hell, maybe even more real. And I'm not saying this in a parasocial relationship kinda way. My online friends probably have engaged with me more in my life than any of my IRL friends. They ask how my family is doing, we talk about our struggles, our wins, share what we're doing, all that good stuff. Hell, one of my online friends offered to use their drawing skills to make my father-in-law and step-dad a father's day present.
I've got friends all over the world, and I think that's beautiful. My friends from Germany, Austr(al)ia, the South, Hong Kong, or Italy are just as real to me as any of my other friends. I value all of them because they're all lovely people.
In conclusion ladies and jellyspoons, don't take online relationships for granted. They can be just as valuable of a friend as anyone you could meet in person. Don't dismiss the relationship on basis of where you communicate with them most. Cherish them on the basis of how much you care about each other.
Previous |
Reply via email: me@absurdpirate.com
as of writing this...
I'm sitting in the Baltimore airport. Got a 6hr layover and figured I'd kill some time by writing this post. I've had it kicking in my head for a while, and now feels like good enough a time as any to write it. Went on a small quest to find some grape soda because I thought it would be a way to explore what little I'm going to of Baltimore. Flying straight to Las Vegas to go see Ed Sheeran with my wife. Not my first choice of concert, but certainly not my last. My in-laws paid for the tickets and the hotel, so who am I to decline? I'm probably just gonna sit here for the next 3 hours watching videos and watch the planes fly take off and land.