(January 3, 2009 at 3:58 pm)Eilonnwy Wrote: I used to have a ton of friends online and eventually I got around to meeting most of them, and the ones I never got around to meeting faded away. I think there is something about the personal interface in real life as opposed to online that is lost, and that you can have meaningful online relationships in many ways. But you can't actually give them a hug, and that too me trumps online.
To me it's simpler ... I have acquaintances online, I am genuinely friendly with (and have respect for) some of these but the limitation of places like this is that I know very little about them as people and what I do know I cannot be sure of (we all saw what Daystar did in his alternate persona and it isn't hard to be cleverer). IMO body language, face to face communication is an important aspect of a relationship ... without it I do not (cannot) give full trust because I don't know for sure who I am dealing with.
My real friends are therefore people I actually have come to know.
Kyu
