Good Morning, everyone.

I’m writing this to appease a bit of curiosity, and to ask an interesting question: What do you all think of Internet Friendships? The Insightful Bunch and I had an interesting discussion on some of this a few days back, but I was curious as to what the community as a whole thought. As a psychology student, I find human behavior and motivation rather interesting—obviously, or I wouldn’t be a psych major. However, as someone who has had and developed several friendships online, I have to ask: what do people think of this?

Do you view people on the internet as just blips on a screen—or do you actually think of them as people? Do you ever want to be friends with anyone you have met online via a site like this or others? Do you feel comfortable speaking about normal every-day things like you would with a friend in the physical world (e.g. what is going on with you, stuff about your life)? If so, do you feel you have to know someone for X amount of time, or is it a comfortability thing?

These are general questions, to be sure… but I think it would be interesting to get a gauge on people and how they view things. I know people who play it very close to the chest with anything personal, but like talking about movies and games (and obviously comics), and I know people who seem to not care too much about being mysterious or cautious, and will talk freely about things.

In my personal experience, I have made friends online that have lasted over a decade. These people I speak with online, have spoken with on the phone, and even in cases in the Chicago area where I live, have met up for concerts and events (friends met off of a band’s forums, for example). I still talk and hang with these people when I can—and I still talk and keep in touch with those out of state. But, from what I’ve seen so far, this is about a 50/50 split. Some people trust no one online and keep everyone at an arms distance, others are more casual and open up over time.

That being said: humor me if you well, how do you feel about his? How do you view your ‘internet friendships’ or acquaintances?