I went to get a pedicure yesterday, and read a bit of an article where the author said she prefers real, flesh-and-blood friends that she can talk to face to face, not someone virtual, on MySpace of FaceBook or something. I didn't complete the article (my pedicure was done, and I was SO ready to go home!) . She mentioned having friends to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh and talk to through the night while she was in college, someone in the next room in her dorm. And thats what she wanted, not some picture on a website.
I completely DISAGREE with her!
First off, my friends that I keep in touch with through the internet are all REAL people, they are not computers or programs! The feelings they convey to me, the joy and sorrow they share with me is very REAL. They make me feel more loved and cared about than the friend that I meet for lunch maybe once in 6 months! They come meet me everyday. They ask after my health, give me advice when I need it, laugh with me, cry with me, tease me too!
It will be very unrealistic and foolish to expect your friends, or at least one of them, to be around whenever you need them for whatever reason. Be around in flesh and blood, that is. But my "virtual" (I hate to call them that! But for lack of a better word, calling them virtual) friends will be there, at least someone will be there at any given time. Even if they are not there at the exact moment, they ALWAYS leave me a note when I wake up in the morning. In fact, with blogger, even people who don't know me leave me messages that always make me smile and feel happy.
I am always surrounded by the love of REAL people! I feel good about my friends on orkut, FaceBook, and Blogger!
I am not trying to downplay the importance of real contact, of meeting in person. I am only trying to say that the online interactions are only making our lives richer, giving us broader perspectives on lives of people in different countries, in different phases of life, from different cultures. Sure, I would love to meet each and everyone of my blogger friends if I can (only that when I do that, I will be dumbstruck and not utter a word for at least a few hours!)
More power to online socializing, mesays!
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6 years ago
12 comments:
ohh I so really adore you for doing this.. And I do think the same!
and for pepole like me... who don't hve any real friends i pour my heart out to.... this place is heaven!
i like it... and as long as i m here ... i wanna make most of it!
and i love all the people i have met here... and i have now a broader perspective... an idea abt a world i dnt belong to... i m not a stranger anymore!
naah! im sure we can count on us yapping away when we do get about meeting each other :p
haan itll be a lil awkward for the first 5 minutes but then i guess we will carry our lappies along and blog for the first 5 minutes to drive away the awkwardness..heehee
cheers!!
and yess i do agree with u, virtual or real life, friendship is friendship and there can be no more bond more beautiful! :)
just that for some ppl,its all over and done with as soon as the comp shuts down :(
its hurting sometimes--this attitude...but guess its okay!we gotta live with it...
even real-life friends can hurt you isnt it? :)
yea, some people you meet online are way more real than the people you are actually acquainted with. easier for me to get to know someone online than through actual conversations as i don't speak much. enjoyed reading this one :)
loved ur views on it...yeah i do agree virtual frnds are not comp progs ..they are human too...and by the blogger we actually kno them better than even the real frnds who hide their all emotions even wen they are very close..but here we kno exactly the ups n downs...nd live wid them..may be not in flesh n blood but in imaginations..nd that wat make us human that we can imagine things n feel distant ppl close jus by having a mind connection..:) coz we stay internet connected a good part of daily routine..
sabse achhi baat..virtual frnds may dislike u..but u mite never feel afraid of getting judged by them but in case of real..most of the time we r afraid of getting judged..
and virtual frnd are not that easy made..we make only wen we r sure that they are of same frequency..that's why we cherish them a lot..
I'm so glad I read this! (for a weird reason though) ...nicely put across. really good.
Since a coupla days, I've caught myself wishing for real-world-verions of certain blogger people...that's how real certain "virtual" people can make you feel and that's how attached you tend to get to em, i guess.
cheers!
lovely-ly written. :)
Ahh you really spokemy mind... i love my blogger friends just the way i do my real ones... some of them write so well that it feels that u know in real life too...
:-)...
and it helps..cause if u blog..u might just make friends with a us citizen who is willing to lend u her bmw when u come visiting the usa...LOL...
Oh.. so well said.. online pals are also pals.. and they r real!
I've met a few of them, and even the first time we met.. it wasnt at all like we were metting for the first.. it seemed we knew each other so well already..
Yes n No! But im so tired, I can't explain why! Came back frm work at 10 pm! I'll come back for this one
Thank you kashmira.... thnxx a lot, not many ppl realise that we are worthy enugh of this!!! :)
I always keep this opinion that there is nothin like virtual and ppl can lie to u anywhere... so y to be afraid of them here :)
Will keep coming back, making u laugh, listening to ur fun time and ur masti and also when u crib (not really :P )
hehee...
Take care...
Cheers!!!
So when u say virtual if ur talking about friends who u keep in touch wit thru’ chat n mail..(no) thanks to long distance…then I agree with u..Some of the friends I keep in touch with thru’ chat are more REAL than the people I meet on a daily basis. They provide me great comfort.
But the same can’t be said about friends that one makes on a social network. Now pls don’t get me wrong. I’ve met some great people in Blogsphere. This is one place I never get lonely in or never feel out of place. I’m the kinda person who takes time to make friends. I don’t blv in “love at first sight” nor “friendship at first sight”….one never gets to know a person in an instant. But there are some people who I’ve felt like getting to know more n done the same. They are more than acquaintances. They are friends…
But yet if any1 of ‘em don’t keep in touch, don’t visit me, don’t sense/miss my absence. I don’t feel I can Q them. I don’t feel they owe that to me. Whereas with my REAL friends…I can confidently ask ‘em abt why they hvn’t kept in touch. n that’s the difference.
@all, I knew y'all would agree :)
@veens, not having any friends outside of the virtual world might become an issue re. You'll only write then, not talk ;)
@pri, you don't know me. I will prolly run away if I see someone i know, and if I don't run, then I will gawk!
@pavi, well, i don't think I can hold anyone accountable to me, real or virtual. Its their choice, right whether they want to keep in touch or not, right? I don't think I would discriminate between either type of friends. They are FRIENDS, thats all :)
hey
nice blog... and interesting article. i agree with you on the fact that online friends are as real as offline ones... :)
Cool blog.. i've seen ur name around, and today came thru Vrij's...
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