500 online friends = loner in real life?

DeletedUser

Email, chat rooms, social networking sites, and forums all make communication much easier. You can meet people from all over the world. People tend to share more online than they would face to face with someone. You can be anonymous and still lay out all your innermost thoughts at the same time.

The question is, while you may be connected to all of these people and have conversations with many of them every day, does it really make the quality of your life better? Are they real relationships that could withstand close proximity and face to face contact? Do you find yourself closer to some people online more than people that are actually in your life? Does all of this instant communication help or hurt social interaction in the real world?
 

DeletedUser

Social communication on the internet helps me out in the real world alot. I can get out all of my hate online, argue all I want and disrespect anyone I want online and no one will even know me. It helps me become calmer for real life and I am able to socialize in real life and be a happy partyman for my friends to enjoy.
 

DeletedUser

It does both. It helps and hurts. For instance, faulty information spreads just as fast, if not faster, than accurate information.
Online friends are sometimes better than real life friends because you can just walk away anytime you want. For some people I could see how it would increase the quality of life because they can be whomever they want online. People only judge you by what you say, not how you look or how much money you have. Imagine someone in a wheelchair or with mobility problems, internet is wonderful for them. They can navigate all over the web with no problems. Internet also allows you to make contact with people you would never see in real life. People all around the world. It helps provide a perspective. It is truly the way of the future if our planet is ever to become a global society. After all, we are all in this together.
 

DeletedUser

Excellent topic. I would have to say that the internet itself poses serious dangers to personal behavior. From the extremes of possibly becoming addicted to net-porn (and thus spiraling out of control into potentially illegal behaviors), to the simple of opting to be online over going out with your real-life friends, internet socializing poses real threats to healthy social behavior. And, internet games do a pretty good job of tipping the scales in favor of internet addiction.

That is, after all, what we're talking about here, isn't it? Internet addiction, from the simple need for social interaction, to the addictive nature of entertainment (games/movies), to the unhealthy dependence on sexual stimulation, the internet covers three very basic needs in a nice, neat package.

It is a threat, definitely. There are people who have lost their jobs, their loved ones, become reclusive, gained weight through lack of physical activity, and/or obtained medical ailments (rss, cps, etc) specifically because of how absorbing the internet can be. It can act as a one-stop shop to all your vices.

The internet, as in all things, should be approached consciously and with moderation. And, if one becomes addicted, either step away cold-turkey, or seek help. There is no middle-ground. Addictions, left to their own devices, eventually spiral out of control.
 

DeletedUser

It has also caused a lot of divorces. I know my cousin has thought about divorcing her husband because he was a warcrack addict. But he had to quit that cold turkey since they can no longer afford internet.

Being somewhat anti-commitment, I like the fact that if something or someone gets to be too boring or too much of a hassle, you can simply walk away without that awkward silence. You don't have to worry about bumping into the person at a coffee shop or something like you do with ex-girlfriends. I hate when that happens. It is a perfect thing for people like me with really short attention spans. Of course, on the downside, there is a lot of work I need to do on my house which I tend to put off. Still haven't finished painting my room, and I need to build that shower stall downstairs. The internet tends to feed my procrastination. Why would I want to want to do plumbing when there are crazy cat videos on you tube to watch?

As with all things there will always be positives and negatives. One must simply look at the risks versus the gains and decide for themselves if it is worth it.
 

DeletedUser

A lot of my family uses the internet to keep in touch most of the time because we're spread out over quite a few states. I'm on my computer a lot of the time, but I don't use any kind of IMs or chat programs. I've met a few people online that I think would be good friends to have, but I've never made any effort to meet any of them in person. I think people have to remember that there is a real person on the other end, but also remember that it's unlikely that the person will ever be an important part of their lives offline.
 

DeletedUser

Denisero said:
Email, chat rooms, social networking sites, and forums all make communication much easier. You can meet people from all over the world. People tend to share more online than they would face to face with someone. You can be anonymous and still lay out all your innermost thoughts at the same time.

The question is, while you may be connected to all of these people and have conversations with many of them every day, does it really make the quality of your life better? Are they real relationships that could withstand close proximity and face to face contact? Do you find yourself closer to some people online more than people that are actually in your life? Does all of this instant communication help or hurt social interaction in the real world?
Click to expand...

I met much of people in chat rooms, online games (like The-West and other) and we chat every day. They are my friends. Half of my friends are the friends what I found in chat rooms and online games. I think that it is making the world better, because people are talking with that chat friends about the things that for example don't say to his/her parents and they feel better when they will say it to someone. When they chat they can fall in love :D and when they will meet it could be fun. I met one of my chat friends in the city (we made a meeting) and we were looking for that second half hour :D:D it was fun.
 

DeletedUser8627

I work for an IM company here in South Africa. Always online and chatting, having great fun and laughs. It seems that people are more open to others online than in real life, but it is nice not really knowing a person in real life while having an online friendship with them.

From MXit, Facebook, Skype and MSN, always connected and can always be contacted at anytime :p

Not to mention I married a woman I met online on MXit 4 years ago. :D
 

DeletedUser

i use msn to annoy everyone :)
and Skype to bug Denisero.

but yes things like this are excellent to keep in touch with people.
 

DeletedUser1105

I have to argue that it does make my quality of life better. Through facebook I am able to share photo's of my family with others and also view photos of friends and family members that I do not get so see very often in real life.

I also have met someone online, and have spoke to them for about six or seven years now. I consider her (and her partner) to be friends. My girlfriend also speaks to them now and also considers them her friends. Those friendships are not any less real than 'real life' friendships in my opinion.

In fact, they may even be better because as already mentioned we are more open online.

On a wider scale, communication has been much improved. People talk to people in other countries all of the time, which can only help in this increasingly multi-cultural society that we live in today. A lot of people don't feel comforatable asking someone about their background or their culture face to face, but will do so online and therefore understand a little better that section of society.
 

DeletedUser

Online communication is like a buffet. Some people should never go near them. They have no control and would gorge themselves into oblivion. But most people have the ability to pick and choose what they want and stop when they need to.
Just as no one I know would choose exactly the same items as I would at a buffet, neither does anyone I know use online communication the same.

For me personally, I want a bit of MSN to keep in touch with a couple of online friends, a larger helping of Skype to talk to family here and overseas (I got rid of my landline and use Skype and my cell), and an even larger helping of Facebook to share daily events with my family and close friends and coworkers. The West is dessert.

The quality of my life is enhanced with online communications. And I do not categorize my friends. I do not say "my online friend Jane" or "my face-to-face friend Jack". They are my friends Jane and Jack. Whether I am closer to one or the other has more to do with personalities than with proximity.

Then there's the whole area of online support through group membership. I know of one couple who have two children with the same rare disease. They were able to search online and find other parents in the same situation and, through online communication, were able to receive the help and support they needed that was unavailable in their local community. Definitely an improvement in their quality of life.
And that's just one example of many thousands of the kind of support that the internet brings to the people who need it.
 

DeletedUser11019

i agree with betsy....

i know a guy who plays more games than pay the bills,
everything in moderation i say
 
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