In online games, you meet strangers and over time they become acquaintances or friends. But how “real” are such “virtual” friends?
Since the age of the internet, it has become significantly easier to make acquaintances around the globe. It often requires nothing more than a few lines of text to lay the foundation for a long friendship. Whether in a guild in World of Warcraft, in a fun browser game on Facebook, or just in a forum discussion on Steam.
But can it really go so far that one can truly speak of “friendship” with these people? Can relationships from the internet develop the same emotional depth as “face-to-face” contacts? Are there significant differences between these two types of friendship?
Cortyn says: Even though my opinion on the topic should be well known, I’d like to elaborate on it once more. Some may find it sad, while others may understand: the majority of my friendships began on the internet. I owe a lot to the internet and also to World of Warcraft – looking back, it’s astonishing (but also delightful) how much exactly.
My “virtual” friends have helped me through many tough times when my “real” friends couldn’t. Simply because the distance is not a problem – just a quick call on Skype and you find a listening ear. Since this part of my friend circle shares the same interests as I do, you can count on them almost any time of the day.
It is also quite possible that this is just a quirk of us role players. In RP, you hardly escape having to write a lot with other people, which possibly makes approaching each other significantly easier than it might be in a game like Counter Strike with heated battles.
Sure, I still know many people from my school days and have particularly vivid contact with the gamers among them – occasionally we play a round of Heroes of the Storm together or farm each other in Alterac Valley, but the real distance makes meetings virtually impossible, apart from 1-2 events per year.
In summary, I make no distinction between “real” and “virtual” friendships. People are people. Whether I am connected to them by an arm’s length or hundreds of kilometers of the internet, it doesn’t matter to me. The people are real, the feelings for each other are real, and thus the friendships are real too.
But enough about me, let’s get back to you! What do you think about acquaintances from the online world? Can they replace “real” friends? What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages? Or do you also see no differences between these people? Let us know in the comments!
