In previous years too, if I was chatting with someone and knew some tidbit of gossip about a current issue from livejournal (back in the day), I'd say that I heard it "somewhere". I wouldn't have said "my Internet friend who lives in America told me".
Then last year, I saw a tweet from a guy that said "Just so you know, I refer to all you twitter friends as just 'friends' when I talk about you. It's just easier." Oh my goodness. Lightbulb!
So now I try and do that. In conversation, YOU - dear person I know from online - are my friend who made an interesting recipe last night, or saw the movie I want to see, or went to a cool place that I want to go to too.
The great thing is knowing people from online is fast losing ita stigma. Ten years ago if you said you were meeting up with someone you met on the Internet, you'd be warned about axe murderers. Now, going to an Instagram meetup or tweetup is not unusual!
Do you call your internet friends your friends? Or do you still hesitate?
Hi, I'm Sarah! I'm 33 and searching for my passion.
Until then, I slog away in a cubicle working full-time and focus on enjoying my downtime with things like TV (my old friend), movies, twitter, (trying to) cook, reading and hanging out with my hubby. My head is turned by things like vintage homewares, stationery, chocolate and scrapbooking. I blog about whatever takes my fancy.
To people who don't understand online social media I say "A person I talk to from..." because it's easier. Unless the person has been my "online friend" for years and chat daily/weekly I classify them as my friend. Ones I have met in "real life" from online have become real friends that just use social media to catch up, keep intouch quicker than a call. I've met wonderful people online as well as those "axe murders"... Meeting people is great we just have to be wise, meet in a crowd and so on. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's good to be consistent I think. The transition from online to real life friend can be tricky but nowadays it's becoming more common!
DeleteI call my internet friends, friends! Or sometimes I will call them my blog friends. My real life friends sometimes think it's a bit strange, but I love them all!
ReplyDeleteIt's a tricky thing isn't it sometimes? If I'm talking to my mum "internet friend" will usually suffice!
DeleteAbsolutely! Some of my loveliest, LONGEST real-life friends are bloggers that I've known for years/met only once or twice in person but have spoken to for ages!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, thank-you for all your lovely comments on my recent posts! The internet really is such a great way to find like-minded people isn't it? It extends our social circle from our nearby georgraphy to the whole world, which is pretty amazing :)
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