Have you formed a friendship on the internet, that adds quality to your life?

I have had one or two internet friendships that have lasted 10+ years so far, and they really have made an impact on me just like any other great friend would.

Yes, but not too much quality to my life was added. Almost went to visit her, but never got the chance.

Yes I have.
I have met some of these people in person, and have an ongoing friendship with them.

@erichw1504 do you think you have to meet in person to have a quality friendship?

@Rangie No, I was just mentioning that I almost met her in real life.

Nope, unless I see them on a regular basis, they are just acquaintences.

@erichw1504 oh, I was just wondering. I am sorry you didn’t get the chance.

@Blackberry So do you have a good acquaintance online, that adds to your life for the better?

I certainly have and quite a few of them have been friendships formed on Fluther. I don’t know if some or all of them will last forever but they’re fulfilling in that I get to communicate and interact with several of these friends on a daily basis and it makes my days bright and cheerful.

I have one from Germany. Been 4 years now.

More than a few, actually. For several years I have lived in a state not my homestate, not my choice of places to be and I moved here knowing no one, all friends back home. I got a computer, I connected with people I missed and then learned about social sites and from there made some very nice friends, a few I’ve since met in person and consider true friends. I don’t knock the computer for the ability to make the world a smaller and more interactive place but I much prefer being able to be out and about.

Oh yes. I’ve had many that moved into “real life” friendships as well. I plan to meet a few more this year as well.

Last summer I got together & planned a trip w a gf (also never before met face to face) to meet several ‘net friends we knew in common.

She is in CA, I’m in MS. We planned to both fly in to Ft. Lauderdale & buddy up to meet several people in person we both knew.

It was a great week, we went from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami then north to Jupiter & Sebring then back.

@netgrrl
I did similar a few years back! A gal flew into my town, rented a car, came to pick me up and we headed off to CA for a week of meeting other people from our social site. She drove all the way home while I boarded a plane and came back. It was a fantastic experience, no disappointments and great memories. Thing is, I don’t know how brave I’d be to do it all again, it was a new and innocent time for me in the cyber world.

No, nor do I want to. I have no interest in meeting anyone on the internet. I guess I’m old fashioned in this respect, I don’t want to meet strangers online and have them become part of my real life. And frankly, I can’t imagine trusting anyone I met in some online forum enough to want to have them know where I live or who my family members are.

I forgot to mention that about 6 years ago I met a girl online and we became friends. By total chance we came to be neighbors about 3 years ago, and now we are practically best friends.

@Snarp . Not even a special friend for communication online only?

Oh, Lord yes. I’ve formed many friendships that are a big part of my life. Some from Askville, some from here. Two live in Des Moines who I’d like to meet. But one, in particular, I don’t ever want to be without him. He means the world to me & I love him with all my heart. Internet friendships can be every bit as deep as RL ones.

@jbfletcherfan I love your answer. GA

Friends? One online friend. Was just commiserating with me today. Never met her. Another one I met and she became a good friend—perhaps my best friend. We’ve been friends for years. A third—met her—makes me sick just thinking about her.

@Rangie Thank you. Some of the people I’ve met on the internet..I’m closer to them than I am RL friends. Weird. Sometimes you just click with someone & it sticks.

Yes, someone from Fluther actually. We don’t live far apart from each other, and we have each others mobile number. We text often and sometimes speak. He is a great friend.

@jbfletcherfan And why not? In fact you might even get to know them better, because your guard is down and you feel free to say what is on your mind. And when you confide in someone, they confide in you, you actually get to know them better. and therefore become really close friends.

@Rangie Not really. I do feel like I sort of know and like some people here on Fluther, but I honestly feel like internet relationships are sort of a time suck. When I spend too much time online I just want to shut the internet out of my life altogether. It makes everything in the real world feel strange, makes my though processes strange, and I just want to purge it with some hard work in the yard or a long walk. The closer anything gets to feeling like a relationship online, the more I sense this effect and recoil from it.

@Rangie I agree. I’ve freely shared SO much here. Once when I did try to talk to a RL friend here, she kinda shut down. I’ll sure never do THAT again. I feel like she kinda let me down.

@jbfletcherfan Do you mean the RL friend was or was not initially a internet friend?

@Neizvestnaya Oh yes, I’d do it again in a heart beat.

Just about 2 months ago I had dinner w a guy friend who was going thru my city traveling. We met up at a public restaurant, of course, bc no matter how long you’ve known someone online, normal precautions apply.

I do plan to meet a woman who lives 3 hrs from me fairly soon. We both plan to drive halfway.

I know another woman moving across country and we plan to meet for dinner when she arrives in my town.

I take normal, sensible precautions. I’ve not been disappointed. None of these have been romantic meetings.

But I did meet my last long term relationship thru a dating site – even though we lived only 10 min from each others.

@Rangie Hmmmm, nope lol.

@Blackberry with a smile like yours, I can’t imagine why not. lol

@Rangie No. She lives in my town. We’ve known each other for years & years. The 4 of us go out a lot. But like I said, I learned my lesson.

@jbfletcherfan Maybe she should have been an internet friend first. :)

@Rangie Well, it’s because I don’t really feel it’s important to establish a relationship on-line when I know I won’t eventually meet the person ya know?

I have met alot of people online, who i would like to call friend, But as someone once told me,” we would only be spinning our wheels”.

@Rangie LOL…yeah. mabye so.

@slick44 You’re only spinning your wheels if that’s the way you want it to be.

I certainly have. In fact I’ve made many. But one example would be after I had a loss. I met two other mothers who had a similar loss. We connected and were able to support each other. I love those women like sisters. We talk only occasionally now but I consider them good friends and wish that someday I will get the chance to meet them in real life.

See now you guys have me on a roll… I just realized I’m a lot more social than I was giving myself credit for being!

My dog has a twitter account, long story.

One day I was sitting on my front porch with my dog, and a man was walking his little toy manchester. We chatted a bit and his dog and mine were playing in the yard as best they could with both of them being on a leash. It turns out he lives a few streets over.

A few hours later, I get a twitter message on Radar’s Twitter account—“Are you the Radar that my husband and my dog Evie met this evening?” Yes. So we exchanged Twitter messages back and forth, and eventually DM’s then e-mails, then we finally meet for coffee one day.

You reminded me I need to call her to see about lunch one day. :)

I’ve also been to countless Tweetups – a few people I already knew locally, sure, as we all joined Twitter, but many I had not met.

I also have an internet friend. You see, I don’t think your heart is just one big lump that belongs to just one person. My heart is made up of many little hearts. Each one just as important as the other, only they are different types of hearts. One for my child, one for my husband, one for each of my friends. And sometimes a little heart beats a little louder and says, I love you. And, I respond, I love you too. I believe internet friends can add little hearts to my chest of hearts. And some of them get more attention than others. Loving someone can be almost anywhere, and when you find it, don’t make lite of it and throw it away. If you really care, you can contribute so much to someone’s life.

@jbfletcherfan…. I dont no, some things you have no controll over. So maybe they are right.

I met my husband online. I met many people from wis.dm (a q and a site we were on before this one) face to face and they’re my friends on facebook (because people live far away, it’s hard to meet all the time but they’re no less special to me because of distance).

I have.

@slick44 You say, you would only be spinning your wheels. Why? You might be missing your best friend ever, because some one said you would be spinning your wheels. Nobody said you have to meet these people in person. go for it.

Yes. Yes, I have.

“okay“http://www.fluther.com/disc/82878/have-you-formed-a-friendship-on-the-internet-that-adds-quality/”:

Absolutely. There are a couple of people that I’ve met here on that I talk to outside of Fluther as well. I do consider them to be good friends of mine. They’ve been around when I needed to talk, needed someone to listen, or when I just wanted to have a chat. These are people that I really care about and love as if they were my friends in real life. To be honest, a few of these people have been there for me when my real life friends we’re to busy for me. I also met my fiancé here on Fluther. So it’s a win-win situation :)

Absolutely! There are two or three people who I am as close to online as I am to others in real life. Will these friendships last forever? I don’t know, but I do hope so. And I really want to meet all of them!

@slick44 Why do you think you don’t have control? You can control everything you do on the internet.

@slick44 This is true. Some things you have no control over. Feelings is one of them. I’ve seen some on here say that internet friendships are a waste of time & that they’re just people behind a screen. But not to me. They’re real people who have become very good friends.

Absolutely…I have a very good friend I met online on the other side of the country and look forward to communicating almost everyday.

I think if you make a new friend (online or otherwise) you are automatically adding quality to you life. You can never have too many friends. I’ve made some incredible friends over the past year on Fluther, some of which I would put in front of some of my real friends. Friendship should know no boundaries.

The people I have met on wis.dm and Fluther have made a profound impact on my life. A quality impact. There are things I want to do now that I never would have before. I really owe a lot to the online friendships I have made.

Thank You

@J0E I love your avatar, and I love your GA. That is so inspiring. I hope everybody can do the same.

I’ve developed a few interned friendships. I won’t go so far as to say that they fulfill my life, but it has been enhanced. Also, forever is longer than I’ll be around and since i haven’t been to my end yet, I can’t really answer that part. Friendships ebb and flow.

@Trillian I guess I mean forever, like you would say, ” we will be friends forever” just a saying, to indicate real friendships. I know they ebb and flow, but while it is in your life I would hope it is a better than casual acquaintance.

@Rangie I guess having to move every three years has allowed me opportunities for both good friendships and the ability to say goodbye. I consider them still to be friends, even though we’ve lost touch.

Yes, I have.

@Trillian I would not like moving every 3 years. That sounds horrible. I think I would never unpack.

@Rangie I’ve developed quite an aversion to the thought of moving. ;-)

@Trillian I would too. Why do you have to go so often? I would put my foot down and say no more.

Yes! And I am mattying her….....so….. :-)

@J0E Great answer!!! :-)

never, but would love to :)

Yeah, I’ve got a close friend that lives a few states away from me. We’ve got a lot in common. If we lived closer, it would probably be something more, but its nice to have someone to relate to – even if it is just online / texts.

Absolutely. I’d say that about half the people I hang out in real life with I met initially online. The internet only allows for better chances at finding people you’ll get along with. Hoping you bump into a good match is far less likely than seeking one out.

@frolix Welcome to Fluther. You will meet all sorts of people here. just hang in there.

I met my current wife on line we have been married for eight years now.

@Roby Congratulations, And you probably knew each other very well before you actually met. I love stories like yours.

On bad days, my Fluther friends are life savers. We help each other over the rough spots. I don’t have any real friends IRL, as I’m actually an autistic Klingon. Qa’ Pla y’all…

Yes, I have met some people online. Mostly on chats; they had help me all the time with my problems and plus they are great friends. I have met some of them before. But I have one friend that I haven’t met two of them before but we are planning to see each over the summer. Sometimes you have to really look how they are and what they do, because you never know who they are.

@Roby Good for you! Hope my fortunes are as good as your’s :-D