…or… Making Friends on the Internet is a Fabulous Thing.

My Kalli just tweeted: “At some point I might have been forced to find like minded individuals and sit in cafés or homes but now it’s the net. Chatting and drinking.” Kalli is at the moment talking to his friend Nick in California, with whom he has set up a photography blog, which they successfully manages to administer from two separate continents. The internet has opened so many doors for making friends, and I think it is truly wonderful. Kalli is part of a large photography community on the internet (his interest) and I am part of a large pedagogically geared community on the internet (my interest). I know many of the people on Kalli’s forums through him, and he knows many of the people on my forums through me.

Both of us have made some real friends through the internet and this is of course an interesting phenomena as it is reasonably new. We have also ourselves made each others acquaintance on the internet. What is up meeting/gaining friends through the internet; what is the allure? I think what internet friendships have got going for them is that they can become very sincere. What happens must be that you keep in touch (through comments, IM, ReTweets, direct messages, stars/favrs/hearts etc.) and in this way the people that you interconnect most with are the people that eventually become real friends.

When it comes to all the people I have met in real life after having befriended them on the internet I have been truly impressed. They have stood up to my expectations and more. All I can say to this is that making friends through the internet is a good thing.