Are Your Online Gaming Friends Really Your Friends? →
Same old song and dance. I’m especially amused by the commenter who says virtual friends are not as good because your RL friends might actually save your life, whereas online friends can only pretend to. Derp.
I maintain my theory of the formula for “great” friendships: (1) shared experiences, (2) compatible personalities, and (3) common values. Online or offline is irrelevant.
But… I did appreciate what another commenter had to say, and I think it’s key to why some people have better experiences than others with online interactions. Emphasis is mine.
What’s attractive about online interactions is that you don’t have that baggage that saddles you in real life - you are who you represent yourself to be. If you represent yourself fairly truthfully, and people appreciate you for being that person you are, that’s very gratifying, perhaps especially because you know that these people aren’t liking or disliking you because of your looks, social standing, the way you dress, or any of the other things that make “friendship” in real life such an elusive thing to chase, especially as we get older.
