Thursday, November 29, 2007

Online Still Counts!

I have had internet service for years now. It seems like I have never been without it at times. The online world is varied and always available. No matter what time of day it is, I can shop, look for things, check the news, so many things.

But the thing I like so much about the internet is how you can meet people. Now it is true that you have to be careful, that you need to protect your information and watch out for who you are speaking to. It is also true that people can act like someone who they are not, we have all heard the stories of adults pretending to be children in order to prey on them, or people tricking others somehow. This is all true, but it is not true that these problems are only online, it happens in person too. So I figure the risks are fairly equal when meeting a new person online or offline.

Actually, it may be more risky in meeting offline, someone you meet at a bus stop would have more of a chance to hurt you than someone you only chat with on your computer. Even though you run the risk of never knowing for sure who is typing to you from cyberspace, I think online friendships still count.

As I have mentioned before, I am primarily housebound. I just can't go out to places, therefore I have very little chance of making new friends in the traditional ways. But online, I have many friends. Some I have had a face to face meeting with, and some that I know I will never have that chance. Many, I have seen pictures of, I know their real names, or I have had voice or video chats with. Some are new friends, some I have maintained a friendship of years.

Most of my friends I have met because we shared a common interest, but isn't that how all friendships begin? I lose contact with some of them at times, but many I have reconnected with again, only to repeat the cycle. I still count them as friends, we just don't talk everyday. Again, still comparable to offline friendships.

One of these friendships that I had turned into more than that. We fell in love with each other. We lived in different states, but as we grew more serous, he moved near me, and now we have been together for just about 2 years. So online does count in my opinion.

My sister always told me that online friendships were fake, that they couldn't be real as I had never really met the person. Well, that may be true in a fashion. However, even though I have never seen these people in front of me where I could touch them, they still mean a lot to me. Yes, it is true we call each other by our online names, but they have become more like affectionate nicknames, and even though we do know each others real names, the screen names seem to fit much better sometimes. That doesn't mean the friendship is fake. I am close with my sister, but I call her sis most of the time, only sometimes do I use her real name. I still call my boyfriend by the nickname I gave him before we met in person. No, it wasn't his screen name, but I still don't use his real name often.

I suppose nicknames have always been my habit, my closest friend in school was nicknamed Wolf, and she called me Vixen. My other sister prefers to be called Tyler, I prefer to be called Ru. So I do tend to either use a nickname that is given, or end up giving them one myself in time. My boyfriends screen name was -CK-, but I ended up calling him Ducky, another friend uses the name Sid, but I call him Devil, and so on and so on.

The best part of online friendships is that I get to meet people that I would have never come across in person. Like Bruxir in Argentina, Salamander and Boring from Australia, and the nicest, most loving person I have ever met, Sweetie from the U.K.

I would never have known them if it wasn't for the internet, but I count each one as a good friend, and I will always believe online still counts!

5 comments:

Julio Mantecon Valdes said...

Thanks for including me in your "friend list". I personally get started at Internet to stay in touch with my family, I left my original country (Cuba) to start again here in Argentina and the cheapest way to stay in touch was Internet, also i´m a lil adict to gaming and MMORPG are my debility... and also the place where i´ve met most of my "online" friends.
Ops.. i better stop wrinting... this is not my Blog, jeje.
Again, thanks Ru.
Kisses
Bruxir

Anonymous said...

nice site Ru and yes we can meet nice friend on net as well as bad people like in real life.

and yes some net friend that we wont probably never meet in real cause living far away and such and some we live closer and that one day we get the chance to

not sure what else to say lol
hugs

Anonymous said...

nice it must take awhile to write all that its really good to :) :p

Anonymous said...

oh sure .... don't even mention me .. going to a 5 star restraunt in a tank top and flip flops!!!!! HUMPH isn't that just nice! *fans self*

Anonymous said...

Wee, I get a mention :D