Do you have friends here on DU whom you have never met?

there are several du'ers i consider my friends whom i have never met in person. Do you consider such people your friends, or do you think of other du'ers as mere posters?

whats your take on virtual friendships?

Redstone

and am glad you are back on du!!

:hi:

You're one of about 100,000 of my DU friends, lioness. :hug:

Overall, my take on virtual friendships is to have a very thick skin and no expectations. :7

:hi:

and you too :blush:

I consider them to be friends...

Sometimes I've been surprised at the twists and turns that that has entailed.

Virtual friendships are friendships nonetheless, if one views them as less than they probably treat them as "mere posters"

I have friends here that I talk to everyday and we communicate about our lives and what's going on in them just as I do with RL friends.

Is a "pen pal" not a friend? My mother had a pen pal that she was friends with until she died and she started writing her in her teens, they got together several times over her life. The pen pal lived in England and they've been here and visa versa for my mother.

I think the internet offers a wide variety of opportunities for friendship--

Sometimes as I said, the twists and turns that can take are hard to comprehend.

:hi:

A few as dear to me as those in my real life.

Virtual friendships are real and wonderful.
I can tell certain people who have no contact to anyone in my real life anything..My problems ,worrys, secrets.
And I can be a friend and listen to them.

And the ones I love know who they are :)

:hi:

He hasn't been here as of late.

But I met him through DU and consider him one of my dearest friends. But I'll never meet him in person. That's ok, though. I respect his privacy.

I would love to meet every one of the people on DU I consider friends.

e-friends.
or is it i-friends?

I wouldn't have friends.

:(

:hi:

:hi:

and we've never met but I consider you one of my closest friends.

I dunno. My memory sucks for time without reference.

But, yeah — I know just how you feel. :hug:




Even when you're being an itchy-bay Onnie-cay. :7

:-D

:hug:

:hug:

You're either friends...or you aren't. :) Friends who haven't physically met yet, but still talk and dream and share together are not "lesser friends".

You are my friend. :loveya: :hug:

:hug:

But I don't think of "virtual" as "lesser." Kind of the opposite, when I think about it. "Real-life" friends tend to abandon you, at least in my experience.

DU burped

What's it been?

Twelve? Thirteen? Fourteen?

I can't remember.

I went to one meet up, but those DUers rarely spend much time in the Lounge, they all seemed pretty nice, but most of the people I have ongoing conversations with I have never met.

Such is the nature of the intertrons.

I have people I like.. And a few that I hate.

I set the bar really high on friendships.. Even in real life.

I'm in a pissy mood right now ignore me..

I value my DU friendships, and would be happy to meet the DUers I count as friends. I've met MN Duers at meet-ups and I found a high-school classmate on DU.

There are also DUers that I have no interest in meeting.

It's not that different from RL.

I have many people here whom I have never met in person, who I consider friends...

Close friends, in some cases...

But I have been extremely lucky in that I have managed to see many in person ........

But I do not think that you need to see someone in person in order to have met that person...

A friendship is a friendship, no matter if you've seen each other face to face, or not!

I consider you a friend, for instance......

Talk to MadAsHellNewYorker....I will be in New York soon, and he and I have made plans to see each other...

If you and Rockit could come along too, that would be wonderful!

:hug:

if i dont have any major papers due that week i would love to see you

I would love to meet you too!

I really hope you can make it...

:hug:

You would be at the top of my "to meet" list though Pri.

:loveya:

:hug:

A couple live close by but with busy schedules we've never met. Others live on either coast and one in particular lives in another country.

They are my friends. When times have been tough they've cheered me up. And they've encouraged me to do things that my supposed friends IRL would never encourage me to do.

:loveya:

...I have yet to meet any of them. I may never meet them, but that's ok. I'll always consider them to be my friends.

I hope to "upgrade" some of those friendships to at least "talking on the phone" level before too long. I wish we all lived closer to one another. I'd dearly love to meet quite a few of my favorite Lounge Lizards. :loveya:

:hi: I've met a few DUers in person, but I have more that I consider friends that I've never met face to face. :)

i have only met 3 du 'ers and they no longer post

you included. yeah, we don't know each other that well perhaps, but most likely we do more than some folks we physically see every day (like some of the folks I work with for instance).

I hope I am not being too presumptuous that I consider you and others to be friends, at least as long as you don't seriously piss me off, but it would have to be something pretty major too, whether an online friend or a local friend. :)

I've actually met (in person eventually) some cool folks that I am very close to on a music board I am on.

i think of them as friends.

and some i'd like to get real friendly with too:evilgrin: but that is another story.

i THINK those who i think of as friends or as possible friends know who they are.

it's not -- i don't think a secret to them or anything like that.

but i may not act as chummy as some on line friendships i see here -- but i'm not all that accustomed to the on line universe.

With the exception of one of my local Dem's that signed me up last November.

I'm pretty new, so I don't want to be too presumptuous, but I do consider everybody here my new friends. I hope that I will at least meet some of the local DUer's in person some time.

so, i guess that would qualify.

Otherwise I'm just standing in the rain talking to myself. I've met a whole bunch of DU'ers and we just took up where we left off here, it's like we had known each other all our lives.

I haven't met any DUers (that I know of).

There are a few that I sort of "know" - heading into what I would call friendship territory, (hope that doesn't offend anybody). I don't have a lot of friends in real life, either - more of acquaintances - people I call friends are much closer - like family, and in some cases are closer THAN family to me.

I know and like a lot of people, but the word friend implies a real relationship to me, I guess. And yes I think a real relationship can happen on line.

I still think so, but I'm a bit more cautious about who's a friend and who are just good people I know.

I value them as much as I do my off-line friends. (Actually, some even seem like family.)