How true are online friends?

There are various ways to interact online nowadays. Forums, chat rooms, msn, hotmail, aim, fb, orkut, twitter, and other stuff that Im unaware of maybe? lol And I'm sure we have a few friends that are 'online friends,' but we consider them no different than our pals in reality. Now, I know you cant trust every single person you meet online, of course not.; but the ones who you do trust and consider friends, do you really think they portray their true selves while talking to you? 😕 I'm sure some of you on I-F have known each other for yrs now, and have become great of friends, but do you really think all of those friends are true to you? Do you take them seriously, when they say "oh I feel horrible today " and all of that sort. (p.s Emoticons can be very misleading. 😆 )

So, do you think your online friends are their true selves while talking to you? Or, is it more or less a farce somewhere along the lines, and you just go along with it?

not in the least bit. i think there r very rare friends who r online and people should be careful while disclosing personal information on the internet.

As true as the music video in my signature. Online relationships are best, low maintenance, low baggage and peace at the click of a button. If only real live human beings came with a shut down button. 😆

On a serious note, the internet can be a great place to meet new people sharing common interests and ideas. It is also a nice place to socialize. However, it is always important to be very careful. There are people who will intentionally pretend and take advantage of you. There are also people who will consciously/subconsciously be fake. That does not mean that you will not meet good people or make good friends online. You do have to be very careful, use your brains and act with good sense and caution.

So far I have met five people I met online irl and it has turned out to be good.

They are all good and safe, until the moment you decide not to remain so anymore....

I have made some pretty nice friends, and frankly speaking, people can't go on with the farce for long, so you do end up realising the person's true personality... It's all about how much you decide to reveal about yourself... Caution is always the word to be!!...

See all the five finger are not same na...same goes with virtual friends i agree not every person is true but every cann't be fake either so 50-50 i know many n have them on my fb,gm...n trust them since i know that they are real i trust them.

Virtuality is great and everything, if you come here for a few minutes of entertainment. Its a great way to get away from the real world once in a while (or once every hour for some of us 😆). As far as friends go, well, I think the definition of friendship changes in this world. You always have to remember that you are only being shown what the other person wants you to see. Just like in the real world, there are bad people here, too. And it is your sole responsibility to remember that when you are interacting with various people on the forum. I think IF and other similar forums are fine for you to communicatie and interact with others, but don't take these friendships over to something like facebook, where you have pictures/personal information posted.

Also, for those who meet in RL after having interacted on the internet, you have to remember that those friendships are not virtual anymore, after you meet that someone, the friendship becomes real. And there is a very fine line between virtual friends and real friends, that you should never cross.

Originally posted by: *Woh Ajnabee*

Also, for those who meet in RL after having interacted on the internet, you have to remember that those friendships are not virtual anymore, after you meet that someone, the friendship becomes real. And there is a very fine line between virtual friends and real friends, that you should never cross.

but when people meet in real then they become real friends so that line between virtual and real friendship is already crossed.