When I was younger, I remember my Mom telling me how my Dad had online friends; whom he sent my picture to. She was furious. People on the internet are predators! How dare he show me off to these strangers.
But, it’s 2016 now.
I’m sure you have someone you consider your friend, that you have never met in person. How much do you really know them?
Are they your best friend? Do they know your secrets?
Lets share some stories, shall we?
A million years ago I was browsing Facebook, and saw a page I liked had this chat option (did I just date myself? Who remembers Happy Chat?) I logged into the chat because I’m a naturally nosey person. As I watched the others converse back and forth, I noticed this one girl, Tabitha, mention she was in Canada. I instantly sent her a message and asked her where. She was in Kingston! Only a mere 2 hours away from me, in Ottawa.
We started talking every day, and soon; I considered her my best friend.
At one point we even considered becoming roommates. This friendship went on for years, and even after she had a baby; we met.
She came into my apartment, plopped her baby down on the floor with my dog, and we chatted like we’ve been real life friends for years.
Of course, neither of us thought of taking a photo together… but here is here adorable daughter Ayla with Roxy.
But, things aren’t always so rosy.
I met this girl, Melissa (not this blogs Melissa, another one!) in the same chat group as Tabitha, just a bit later. We talked off and on, definitely not as much as Tabitha and I, but enough for me to consider her a good friend and someone I would go to when I needed to rant, or needed advice.
Years passed, and we became closer. She knew of my love for blogging and offered me a deal. Her boyfriend bought her this laptop that she never used, and she offered to send it to me.
“pay me back when you have extra cash,” she said, but I insisted on paying her a majority right away, so she felt secure.
Should I even continue with this story? I’m sure you can imagine what happened next. Money is gone, and the laptop still hasn’t shown up, almost a year later.
Now, this isn’t a lesson on money, no. Tabitha and I had regularly borrowed money back and forth without issue.
So that leaves me the question, how can you trust somebody online? How do you know they won’t screw you over like Melissa did to me?
You can’t. You can’t know that. It’s not an online friend problem either, because ‘real life’ friends are fully capable of stealing, just as much as they are capable of being trustworthy.
So, You tell me, are online friends real friends or are they just for amusement?
