With the digital age people are able to do things that were never thought possible. Today you can easily talk to someone thousands of miles away with just one click and a few seconds to type up a message. It is easy to get in contact with just about anyone throughout the world.
Internet friends are something many people who use the internet have. They are people who can easily be contacted, can be talked to about anything and most likely share similar interests. Some people have more internet friends than they do real-life friends.
“57% of teens have made new friends online,” according to the Pew Research Center in 2015.
Can someone’s internet friends be just as close as real-life friends?
16-year-old Alexandra from Georgia has been social online for over a decade. Starting young, she has become a part of many social groups. To her, internet friends are closer to her than her real-life ones.
“It is easier to find people of similar interests online,” Alexandra said. “It’s also because there is less confrontation.”
To 20-year-old Michael from Tennessee, both internet and real-life friends are just as important. He’s also been social online for a decade but considers all of the friends he has met just important to him, no matter how he met them.
“Real-life implies that they are fake when they are just a long way away,” Michael said. “They’re just long-distance friends.”
Both do find common ground with which kind of friends is more meaningful but for different reasons.
Alexandra finds that her internet friends are more meaningful to her. Her internet friends are more open-minded. She is also able to call or text her internet friends at any time without ever needing to meet up with them in order to be social.
Michael, on the other hand, finds that both relationships are meaningful to him. The only reason that he finds his internet friends more meaningful is because he met them first. Being able to talk with them also enabled him to talk to the people around him.
“I had long distance friends before short distance friends, so they helped me be the type of person that can make friends and be more comfortable with myself,” Michael said. “Without my long distance, the short distance wouldn’t have happened.”
Everyone has different experiences online, and whether or not they make friends with others is an individual choice. Whether someone makes friends through Webkinz and YouTube like Michael or through Reddit and Discord like Alexandra, anyone can make friends on the internet.