Online Friendships (adaptation from the net!)

Why Online Friendships Are the New Norm?

Chances are you have an internet BFF—and guess what? You're not alone..

We are blessed to live in a world where we can connect with literally anyone. We can connect at any time, at any place, with anybody and with any mode. This is extraordinary, especially because people value connections. We do better when we feel like we're part of a whole; we have a need to be around like-minded people who will support us and be with us. As part of our social nature, we want to be with others.

"Being online actually gives you the chance to make a friendship happen faster than it would in real life because you have constant access to each other," explains 16-year-old high school junior Justina.

 Sometimes, a friend can be VERY hard to find. It can be hard to find people with the same devotion to Sharukh Khan as you or people who aren't afraid to fangirl about Narendra Modi or Katy Perry in the same sentence. This means that it's easy for people to feel disconnected. It's easy for people to feel like an anomaly -- like they don't fit in. This can be a very scary path, especially for those who are already feeling lost or uncared for. This path is slippery -- once you fall, you fall fast and hard.

But with the Internet and its open horizons, suddenly it's not so hard to find your niche in the world. You can easily find people with similar interests anywhere online, whether it's Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram through Communties, Tribes and Hangouts!. It's easy to be connected, and with the instantaneous quality of the Internet, people on the other side of the world don't always feel so far away.

"It takes very little effort to find people who share a certain interest with me, whether it's about Taylor Swift, Philosophy, The Hunger Games trilogy. I find that many of these people share more than one interest with me, too. The internet lets me cross entire continents and oceans in a second, make connections in a moment and explore new realms in a heartbeat."

My main mode of connection is Twitter, but plenty of other people prefer different ways of communication. Some people blog about their daily lives or share beauty tips on YouTube. Others start pages on Facebook and rally around a cause. Many people use Tumblr or other blogging networks just to talk about things to anyone who is willing to listen. The part that surprises most of us is that tons of people are willing to listen and help. They think our lives are worthwhile and that our voices are important. Because of this, so many people continue to grow and gain confidence every single day!!!

I cannot stress how important these connections are. It saves lives. It saves people from feeling ostracized and alone. It saves people from going down a path of emptiness, depression and even suicide. Knowing you have a group of people who are there for you -- even if they're thousands of miles away -- makes all the difference.

These people who get what it's like to be different and know how to fangirl like there's no tomorrow -- are the very connections that saved me and brought me out of my lows. They gave me a chance to breathe. These connections gave me the confidence to be myself and branch out.

This is why I think all connections, even if they're created on the Internet, are important. They can push people to be better and offer helping hands to pick you up when you're down. They let you know that you're not alone in life and that you don't have to face everything by yourself. I think this is ultimately what makes the Internet a beautiful place.

Today, I know where to go on Twitter to squeal with others about Sidhart Malhotra's upcoming movie. I know which Facebook friends have the most current world news. 

The Cons (Which I'm sure Toohina's gonna enjoy! :P)

1. Online relationships are based on limited information. When connecting with others through technology, we get bits and pieces of people—words on a screen, two-dimensional images, or a digitized voice—almost like having some, but not all, of the pieces of a puzzle. 
2. We tend to present ourselves online in ways that are, at a minimum, slightly more positive versions of our true selves and, at a maximum, entirely distorted and aggrandized self-representations. 
3. It prevents us from acknowledging and accepting that they are imperfect beings like everyone else. 

The Pros

1. Online friends have been found to benefit people emotionally, especially if you use them as an addition to your social circle and not the main focus of it. In 2014, one man lost almost 400 pounds after meeting someone in an online game that eventually became a friend. The person gave him the motivation he needed to change his life for the better. 
   
2. Online friends can fill in the spaces that offline friends cannot provide. They can offer feedback and support in a different way than your real-life friends can. 
   
3. Online Friends give Support -Sometimes we're just more comfortable sharing details of our life with the people we know only in the virtual world. If that's the case, online friends can be a wealth of support during the rough times in life. Your online friends are probably there to cheer you on when you have just lost your job or are dealing with a health concern, for example. 
   
4. Reach out to online folks when in-person communication is difficult-When you're up in the middle of the night worrying about bills or your teenager, you might be tempted to call your best friend up for a chat, but do that once too often and you'll put a strain on your relationship. That's where online friends come in. You can reach out to them anytime of the day or night, even when they aren't immediately available. Just being able to pour your heart out in an email or send them an instant message will give you the emotional boost you need.
5. 

What my friends think of this: 

Jinita D. Pirthy: 

"Real friends!

I believe in having eye contacts when I talk, and also, I must know the person's mood so that I can choose my words well before I'll let him/her know what's in my mind. and vice versa.
I would like the other person to know what kind of a person I am so that he/she as well can know what to tell me.

Then I also like online friends whom I've known personally. I would love talking to them here. they would better understand in what tone of voice I might be typing what and my mood and all, since its only here that many people are more able to pay us attention."

Akbar Husnoo:

"Online friends are fake ones, they do not respect secrets shared. Real friends are less likely to be fake ones. Online friends may be criminals too. In simple terms, they pretend to be good with you, use fake accounts when in reality they are thieves etc. Whilst real friends, it's obvious that 99% of them are not criminals."

NIK: 
"Real ones are better. :P Online friends will only show their good side to you and its way easier to communicate face to face rather than online. Some may say that they find it easier to tell people things online but they are just too childish to actually have the courage to tell someone something in the face..THE FACE IS IMPORTANT. 

You can obviously make someone's mood better by chatting but if you actually promise a person that you'll help them/tell them if you were there, you would have done this and that and when the moment actually presents itself for you to make those words become a reality, you just back off or do the opposite. That's actually the mentality of today's people, they just say words that they actually don't mean.You can only prove something to someone with actions and not with words. Stop hiding behind a screen and promise a forbidden land to someone if you mean what you're saying, prove it with actions or BACK OFF. 

The thing about online friends is that they know so little about others but still they give themselves the right to mistreat others and take them for granted. and there's another thing about possession, WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? You don't own anybody and nobody owns you, stop being so possessive on your friends and drop those f*cking jealous mindsets. STUPID MORONIC HATERS. 

And being influenced online is pretty easy you can lose trust in yourself, self-esteem, pride and latter on you might even be unwilling to make friends due to past experiences..its a bit like someone in a relationship is cheating on the other one. It makes that other one less likely to indulge into future relationships easily..why do youngsters specially manipulate words to gain the trust of someone? IDFK. 

Another thing is about blackmailing someone."

Internet relationshipFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An internet relationship is an interpersonal relationship between people who have met online, and in many cases know each other only via the Internet. Online relationships are similar in many ways to pen pal relationships. This relationship can be romantic, platonic, or even based on business affairs. An internet relationship (or online relationship) is generally sustained for a certain amount of time before being titled a relationship, just as in-person relationships. The major difference here is that an internet relationship is sustained via computer or online service, and the individuals in the relationship may or may not ever meet each other in person. Otherwise, the term is quite broad and can include relationships based upon text, video, audio, or even virtual character. This relationship can be between people in different states, different countries, different sides of the world, or even people who reside in the same area but do not communicate in person.

______________________________________________ 

RELATABLE SITUATION...

Experience: