What could possibly be the reason why two people, working in the same office 5 days a week, chat online everyday but never talk in person?

Maybe they don’t listen well.

Both introverts?

@laureth – but they are comfortable around other people. just not with each other.

Maybe that’s why, then?

@laureth – why can’t they approach each other in person and be normal?

maybe one hates the other.

Possibilities are they are introverts as someone has mentioned. They could simply not be great a person to person communication. Hey, I talk to my best friends more over the computer than in person or over the phone. Sometimes my best friend comes over and sits at my other computer and we chat online, together, in the same room.

actually, now that i think about it, i had an email relationship with a lady some years ago who worked in a separate office. we never met in person, but seemed to have a real relationship of sorts as friends.. but i think it was a little more than friends somehow too.. i didn’t have time to keep it going though. when i eventually quit working there, she got a hold of my email address for my personal business and tried to keep things going that way. again, i couldn’t keep up with her that way so it died. she was pretty awesome to chat with though.. i always think about it with a bit of regret.

anyway, point is, i think virtual relationships have a certain amount of weight to them. they’re real enough. they don’t require an in person meet up and/or sometimes the in person chemistry just isn’t the same quality as the virtual chemistry.

i think it has something to do with the idea that we all fit each other in different ways. some people, i suppose, seem to have the ability to fill your virtual relationship quota like no one else.

maybe they’re gossiping about other people and so it’s more clandesting by doing it on email then standing in the others cubicle whispering. plus email you can do all day and nobody knows what you’re doing, you may appear to be working, but if you’re standing at someone else’s desk you are obviously not at your desk working.

here’s another detail though. they talk to each other in person when they’re alone. but when there are other people around, they don’t.

it seems they don ‘t want other people listening to them, or knowing that they’re communicating (like my first answer says).

okay…..i’ll be the gossip….HIDDEN AFFAIR!!!! and yes, you want to be professional at work.

Sometimes, two people communicate better through online means than in person. It’s odd, but it makes sense to me. Maybe these people have found a way to communicate online that doesn’t easily translate to real life?

@jazmina88 – could it be that there’s a hidden affair?

@shadling21 – is there a chance these people make it to real life?

I’m with jazmina, though it could just be repressed desire.

If they are chatting online it looks like they are working. They are getting paid to gossip.
If they talk in person it is obvious they are screwing off.

@OreetCocker – so you mean it could be that they are into each other?

@worriedguy – it’s actually ok to chat non-work stuff during work hours as these people work long hours actually. the thing that’s not usual is, they don’t really hang out together as normal friends, but they are really good friends online.

Maybe one or both of them are shy. It could also be that one person is interested in the other, but gets nervous talking to the other one face to face (now, if you do have a crush on this person, don’t get your hopes up too high). People are usually less inhibited when they are talking online.

@lonelydragon – how could we know if one of them is interested in the other?

@darby_shaw Absolutely :-)

@OreetCocker – and you know this how? :)

Would have to say that in 8/10 of cases similar to this that I have come across in various workplaces or educational establishments the result has been some kind of relationship. I guess I have seen it happen maybe 40 or 50 times!

@OreetCocker – but they’re not in a relationship. could we say that they like each other? if yes, why could they not act normal around each other?

@darby_shaw Maybe there is attraction, maybe there isn’t. You’d have to ask to find out for sure.