Friends ? ? ? ? ? ?

ClassyLady · #1 11-12-2001, 01:47 PM

Most of us here are regulars on GC forums. We chat back and forth with each other pretty much every day. But, do you really consider people that you meet on the internet to be your friends?? Not internet friends, but do you hold these people in the same category as you do your closest friends that you met in person??

If you do consider them friends, do you treat them the same as your real friends? Do they know your real name, what you really do, and where you really live? Have you lied to them about yourself?

CrimsonTide4 · #2 11-12-2001, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ClassyLady
Most of us here are regulars on GC forums. We chat back and forth with each other pretty much every day. But, do you really consider people that you meet on the internet to be your friends?? Not internet friends, but do you hold these people in the same category as you do your closest friends that you met in person??

If you do consider them friends, do you treat them the same as your real friends? Do they know your real name, what you really do, and where you really live? Have you lied to them about yourself?

Yes to all of the above. There are a few people on GC as well as other internet venues that I interact with outside of GC or where ever we have "met" on one of the IM providers. I have no reason to lie about my name, what I do, live, etc.

The people who I call my friends are held in the same regard as people I might have met through school, work, church, etc.

These friends are people I hold in high regard. I consider some of them to be like family to me.

I look @ it like this, thanks to the Internet my circle of friends has become wider. The Internet has allowed me to meet people I probably never would have ever encountered. The Internet has revolutionized pen pals to a whole other level.

My friends on GC are people I pray for and pray for me. I worry about them and they worry about me. God places no limits on who you love or hold dear.

kiml122 · #3 11-12-2001, 02:56 PM

I've met people on GC that I know call friends myself. We have exchanged phone numbers and talk regularly on the phone. I have also met one when I was in Miami on vacation. There is one that I chat with in my own city that we have yet to meet. But we will put an end to that soon.

They know my name as I know theirs, and I know what they do for a livinging, as they know what I do. Once you get beyond just chatting on a GC forum, I think that people can and do establish friendships via the net.

Also coming to different forums, you may run into someone that you know. I found a friend of mine from college on this board that I had not spoken to in years. They had moved from the area, and now we converse all the time.

lil_sunshine · #4 11-12-2001, 07:50 PM

I haven't met anyone from GC, but I do have a friend that I met over the net about two years ago and he and I still keep in touch with each other. We know each other's real names and phone numbers. I happened to find my best friend, 9476, on a website called switchboard.com. I originally met him while we were both attending Howard U., the Original Mecca, in Fall '94. I hadn't been in contact with him for about 3 or 4 years (from the last time I'd visited HU) until I surfed the net and found him on that website on 4/4/00. We're dying to see each other again.

novella000 · #5 11-12-2001, 09:33 PM

Yes, I have several people I would refer to as my friend So-&-So...

I haven't met any of them yet

But I will...

I do have a couple of peeps I have talked to on the phone or in some other fashion... some with whom I have exchanged addresses and phone numbers (we send each other gifts and cards an' stuff).

I have one particular friend that I speak with on the phone damn near everyday, as I have for over a year and a half!

I don't talk to all of them on the phone... I don't speak with all of them in the same terms, but I do hold all of them in the same regard. I love them ALL!

NOWorNEVER · #6 11-12-2001, 10:27 PM

Yes, I feel as though I have made real friends with people I've met on the internet. Sometimes its easier to open up and tell personal things to people when you don't have to look at them. Truthfully, my "internet" friends probably know more personal stuff about me than many people I see everyday.

korkscru · #7 11-13-2001, 09:59 AM

Yes, the two people that I've met via the internet are who I would consider to be friends, one of which is Kiml122--Hi Kim!

We have grown to to be close and I feel that I can get an honest,
constructive, and objective opinion about some things with them.
I feel that internet friends can be good (in many cases) in that they don't worry about what you have or how you look. My friends and I have been there for each other when days weren't going so well; when someone has pissed us off; when something good is going on; or when we just want to laugh and talk. Honestly, for me, it's like I'm talking to them face-to-face or over the phone. I'm happy to say that I've been able to actually meet one of my friends and she's a deliteful and good person. Kim and I have never met face-to-face, but I feel as though I've known her all of my life. We have already set a date of WHEN and WHERE we're going to finally meet, right Kim? (she lives in Philly and I live here in Richmond).

My internet friends and I have a wonderful time talking and I'm blessed to know them.

Ideal08 · #8 11-13-2001, 10:04 AM

Yeah, I consider people that I've met on the internet to be my friends. Email is no different than a letter you send your non-internet friends in the mail. IM is no different than a phone conversation, except that they're free. I've shared my real full name with those I consider friends. Some even call me by my nickname. And I talk to some of them on the phone (not CT4, either, lol). And this is not even including my Sorors. It doesn't make a difference how you meet them, they are your sisters, regardless. I've never lied to my friends about me and who I am and what I do. You either take me or leave me.

As far as holding them in the same regard, each of my friends is special to me for a different reason, so each person is held in a different regard. I love all of my friends, and I pray for them, just as they pray for me.

I'll let you know what showed me that the people I've met via (

) GC are TRULY my friends. The first time I didn't log on for a few days, I got back, and people were LOOKING for me!! I was so shocked!! And they had sent emails to CT4 asking about me. That's real.

kiml122 · #9 11-13-2001, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by korkscru
Yes, the two people that I've met via the internet are who I would consider to be friends, one of which is Kiml122--Hi Kim!

We have already set a date of WHEN and WHERE we're going to finally meet, right Kim?
My internet friends and I have a wonderful time talking and I'm blessed to know them.

Can the chior get an amen!!

AKA2D '91 · #10 11-14-2001, 09:14 PM

Everyone doesn't have friends or groups of people they can chat with on a regular basis, so I'll refrain from speaking on this topic. Out of respect for those who do not.

***Shall we bow our heads ...***