I was talking to my friend Dave online the other day and chatting with a friend from the SDMB online at the same time. When Dave asked me what I was doing I told him I was chatting with a friend. He asked me who it was and I told him it was a friend of mine from the SDMB. He says to me, “You call those people friends now? How can you be friends with people you’ve never met?”
I was kind of shocked by what he said because I’ve always thought that we at the SDMB were all friends in some way, regardless of whether or not we’ve met face to face. Am I wrong? Are we strangers, acquaintences, freaks who spend too much time here? What?
Well, the last option is a gimmie. But I consider a great number of people on this board friends. Friends of a different variety than my RL friends, but buddies none-the-less.
That’s up to you Rachelle. Some people on the boards are friends IRL as well, some are married, some are dating, some are siblings…
Sound’s like your “friend” was being a bit narrow minded for a moment. I’m sure you know more about some people on the boards through their posts than you do some people IRL.
Consider me a pal Rachelle, don’t let your “friend” get you down in the doldrums over silly POV’s.
Sounds like your friend doesn’t have a high opinion of internet people. One of my sister things you are all freaks
I have made many friends at this board. Some I have met and know that we will have a lasting friendship. There are some that I think so highly of that I trust them with intimate deatils of my life. And alas, there are some that frankly, I wouldnt trust with cutting my toenails.
As with any friendships, you are careful in the beginning and then it can develop into something really wonderful.
Most of the people to whom I talk on here I consider acquaintances. No more than two or three I consider “friends,” as much as I can be friends with people who I have never met and likely never will meet IRL.
I have been bitched at by a total stranger in ICQ (there’s a shocker) because I leave ICQ up primarily to talk to people I know IRL. “That’s so boring and average.” “Sorry.” <close window>
Friends, those I dislike, some I barely know, those that are obscure – overall friends though.
I think if it were a place where people didn’t get together and meet each other than it’s just another place on the internet. Since there is a part of this community that wants to get out and meet one another I would say friends.
BTW, friends in a mental sense count (I mean a lot of us shed some serious tears over someone we never knew in person). If there’s a comparison in other realms of life, pen pals become friends through communicating and quite often through their written words they end up meeting one another.
I think your friend don’t know
that you became a real friend with some people you talk with on a board.
We are all real people, aren’t we.
I have anouther board where I got to know some great people
and I call them friends.
Here I’m to new to have got any friend,
but maybe in the future…
