(September 1, 2016 at 2:02 pm)abaris Wrote:

(September 1, 2016 at 1:17 pm)Losty Wrote: Lol. I feel like you think "the Internet" means AF. You can't really hide behind a signature if you're getting to know someone personally.

I'm very well aware that there's no such thing as anonymity on the internet. That however doesn't mean that I'm sharing all my personal details and predicaments with the whole world. I'm not on facebook or any other social platform. For one because the virtual company there doesn't interest me at all. And secondly because I know that it's a giant and glorified marketing profile generator at it's base.

In that aspect AF is one of the better places. But still, I don't see any reason to spill my personal beans here for everyone to see. A little bit, yes, but certainly not everything that makes or breaks me as a person.

Haha you missed my point entirely. I'm not talking about what you would share. I was only saying that it is possible to build real meaningful relationships over the Internet with people you've never met. Sure there's always a slight risk even then, but so is there afk. People can lie to you in person too.

(September 1, 2016 at 2:23 pm)Losty Wrote: People can lie to you in person too.

Yes, and they did. And I had some very meaningful conversations with people on the internet. That doesn't mean however that I share most of my personal story or problems in public. That's reserved for private conversations, since, for one, everyone can see what's written here, and secondly I wouldn't share it with certain peope here or in real life.

Three. Mom. Dad. Rob.

(September 1, 2016 at 2:23 pm)Losty Wrote: Haha you missed my point entirely. I'm not talking about what you would share. I was only saying that it is possible to build real meaningful relationships over the Internet with people you've never met. Sure there's always a slight risk even then, but so is there afk. People can lie to you in person too.

Rgr that...there's plenty of people on these boards I'd say, with confidence..that I know better than my babysitters, and I trust those little tweenage potheads with my kids...so.  The idea that we've been having meaningless discourse over these past few years to include our hopes and dreams and failures and various differences of opinions is absurd, to me.  Some of these folks are my friends in ways that my rl friends are just casual acquaintances.  One of the things I love about the interwebs, which I really only discoverd in adulthood..is that it;s a great way to meet more people and more varied people than you ever could or will rl.  

Some of you younger fuckers may not realize this..but by the time you're knocking on middle ages door you don't even know if most of your twenty year old besties are still alive...some aren't..and you probably only have a meaningful relationship (of any sort) with one or two of them anymore regardless.  It gets harder to make friends, it gets harder to meet people.  You've got more shit to do.   If it werent for these boards I could go months and months without meaningfully interacting with anyone other my children.....could you imagine what that would do to my children.

Four. Maybe five.

(September 1, 2016 at 3:28 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Some of you younger fuckers may not realize this..but by the time you're knocking on middle ages door you don't even know if most of your twenty year old besties are still alive...some aren't..and you probably only have a meaningful relationship (of any sort) with one or two of them anymore regardless.

One of my best friends is dead for 13 years by now. Another one didn't take my calls animore. Without any explanation or obvious reason. So, yes, I know what you're talking about.

Two...

(September 1, 2016 at 2:53 pm)Mamacita Wrote: Three. Mom. Dad. Rob.

Thank you bestie, I'm extremely honoured

Of course you are right at the top of my list with Emma

(September 1, 2016 at 3:37 am)robvalue Wrote: I've been thinking about how many people in my life I truly trust. I'm talking about people that I feel I have had enough experiences with that I could vouch for them. I'm sure you know what I mean, but I'm talking about this kind of thing:

I believe that:

-They would never intentionally hurt me
-I can safely tell them anything in confidence
-I would trust them with the safety of others
-They would never betray me, even if they had the perfect opportunity and could get away with it
-If I needed them, they would do everything in their power to help me

And so on.

So the question is: how many people do you know that you would vouch for? I'm not asking people to name their vouchees of course. It can be both people you know "in real life", and online contacts.

I think I have counted 7. I know many other people who I would feel pretty confident trusting, but I just haven't had enough close contact to be able to vouch for them beyond question.

I've got four, and they're loves for whom I'd put my ass on the line, too.

None of them are online contacts. I don't trust that easily to such an unseen extent.

(September 1, 2016 at 6:08 am)robvalue Wrote: I figured that even people who have hundreds of friends probably aren't going to have more than a few people they would vouch for.

I guess it depends on how you define "friends" -- but there's no way I could imagine having more than eight or ten, much less hundreds. Truth be told, five or six, well that's kicking barriers.