To what extent do relationships that are formed online and remain virtual differ from ones that are formed as a result of meeting in person?
As social networking sites have become more popular, so have online friends. Before social networking, the only way to form friendships was by meeting in person. However, now this is definitely not the case. People can meet new friends in many different ways online: Facebook, Twitter, dating sites, and blogs. When people meet online, it seems as though it is usually pretty hard to start meeting up in person. For example, the new MTV TV show called CatFish explores this problem. Many of the people in this show meet someone online, and one person is reluctant to meet in person. Sometimes this is because they are insecure, or another reason is because it is actually a different person than who they say they are.
Online friends differ greatly from friends that are actually formed in person. When friends meet in person, then they generally spend there time together, in person. Compared to when online friends meet online, they generally stay in touch online. Another difference between the two is the ability to open up and share information. Many times people are reluctant to open up and fully show their personality in person, especially if they don't know their friend very well. In comparison, when people are behind a computer screen, there is a sense of protection. People are then generally more willing to open up and share information and feelings. This is one of the problems with online friends, because then when it comes to meeting in person, people may feel shy and not be able to build new connections or friendships.
Skype is becoming significantly more popular, and this is a great way of combining both meeting online and meeting in person. As social networking and online friends become more popular, I hope to see in-person friendships stay just as popular. I personally feel that having an in-person friendship is much safer, and is the natural way of have a friendship.
I agree with what you stated about insecurities when meeting another person in-person that you have met online. It is hard and can sometimes even be creepy. But, online social networking sites like facebook, are good ways of starting relationships for those of us that work a lot or dont have enough extra free time to devote to finding someone new in a relationship.
ReplyDelete-Mike
I agree with you that it seems like it is hard to start up an offline friendship while online. I would argue that it is easier to meet people online because most of the time you have some sort of a shared interest. I don't know that it is necessarily easier to make friends, but it is easier to meet people.
ReplyDeleteDan