
The Internet as False Refuge - thelettere
http://thomastberry.com/the-perils-of-internet-friendship/
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Broken_Hippo
I've been where the author is, but the truth is - even with that loneliness,
Online friendships have improved the quality of my life tremendously. I've
never really had more than 1-2 friends outside of family, and often have had
zero. I'm pretty weird. Even when I can relate to people, they can't always
relate to me. People aren't there any more or less with the distance, and I
don't require meeting people to seal a bond. Some 8 years ago, I met my
husband online, playing a silly little browser game, and 5 years later moved
across an ocean after marrying him. I have people I talk to daily that I've
never met, who are weirdly more there for me than most 'real' friends. I'm
gladly not having to rely on telephone calls or paper letters to stay in touch
with family in the States. For me to get the same sort of social freedom, I
would have a life goal of living in a large city in a liberal area, but that
is not so needed. I've known people to have some of the worst stuff happen to
them. But just the same, people get into abusive and dishonest relationships
without them being online. Some people just come and go, and to be fair, the
author was only out there a month or so. That is hardly time to develop a
'real life' friendship, let alone the online sort. The sort of friendship
doesn't fill many people's needs, especially if they truly have other sorts of
options, and that is all ok, but to me, it is all worth it.

