"My online friend told me..."

[Meganium]

Do you guys talk about your online friends to people in real life? Let it be from PC, Facebook, Twitter, or any other forum or social media? Do your close friends or family know that you know people from the internet world? do they use the whole "lol everyone on the internet is a pedo" excuse? :|

 

[Alex]

I've changed my parents' view on the idea of the Internet being riddled with rapists and pedophiles. They know that I've met up with certain PC friends in my own city, and have even watched me board a flight all the way across the continent to California to meet a buddy! I've since also travelled to Boston to meet another PC pal. They have also heard me speak to plenty of friends I've made in other online communities over Skype and Mumble.

My close real life friends (read: high school friends) know about my online friends and I even share some OL friends with IRL friends. I really hated keeping my two worlds segregated for the shame and worry that others would think it's weird or dangerous. Such a relief when your IRL friends and OL friends know each other!

 

[Tsutarja]

Back in 2011, I met one of my many online friends in their hometown (so of course my parents met them too). If it's a close online friend of mine, then sure I'd talk to my parents about them. I don't go past my parents though and don't talk about my online life to my actual friends.

 

[Altaria]

I do, without really worrying about it too much. It's mainly just to people that are already my close friends anyway, so they're people that know about me and my fiance who have been together for 5+ years (and the first 4 of them were spent online), so they take it pretty seriously. I think they all trust my online-people judgement by now! Haha. I've had people be all weird about it, especially people that I told about my fiance before we "met in person". I remember this one older 'family friend' who said straight to my face, "He could be an old greasy trucker for all you know. I would think you'd be a little smarter than to start something like that."

Yeah, comments like that really got me going. Sometimes I kept quiet and just imagined all the ways I could torture them in my head, sometimes I went off and told them the real facts of it. I know both of those scenarios were probably wrong if they truly were just looking out for my best interest, but you know.

 

[Altairis]

If I ever talk about you guys I just use "my friend..." and don't say whether you guys come from the internet or not. I definitely don't talk about any internet friends around my parents because they think all the people on the internet are liars and pedos.

 

[MKGirlism]

I treat my Online friends, and real life friends equally, which means, I don't cross-talk about them, unless needed.
Like, "I know somebody in Bulgaria, she told me, that "kurwa" has been used in Bulgarian, also".
Nobody can scare me off with paedo's, I'm a nearly 23 year old girl, lol.

 

[vudw]

I currently live with a friend I met through IRC, and have moved a few times in relation to people I know online. My family knows about it, and my mother and a few closer friends I've had in the past know about people I know online at times. I keep the social media sites more to myself, as they haven't asked.

I've integrated parts of my social life between the material and internet connections, even bringing a couple friends into my online circles. It's helped me get to know people better from both sides of the spectrum.

Knowing people from different locations has made me a bit nomadic in the USA the past few years. I'll probably move again next spring. xD

 

[obZen]

I've told a few friends about my online friends, especially if I'm wonder trading or something

It's not that surprising to them

 

[Candy]

I always mention 'online friend' whenever I'm talking to irl people about my online friends. So far I've only met two online friends irl back during anime conventions, and I had a sleepover with one of them once. :"

Online friends, irl friends, they're all still people. Plus, with my age now I'm immune to pedos... somewhat. :"

 

[Blu·Ray]

To be honest I don't think that any of my friends nor my family know that I even have online friends. I sometimes mention that I'm playing games with people from other countries, but I don't talk about them as friends, and frankly I think that my parents would find the concept of online friends a bit strange...

 

[Sylphiel]

Not a whole lot, but I have mentioned things about people that I know online to others before. Just kind of off-hand, like oh yeah this is someone I met from some online place yeah.

Thankfully, mostly everybody seems to think that idea is kind of cool. I haven't run into anybody who's worried about the integrity of people on the internet since...well, my parents, and that was years and years ago, and they've long since changed their mind regarding that.

 

[AxeBeard McBeardAxe]

No, never actually. But I share little with anyone, really. I'm a rather secretive person, one might say. It's not I have anything to hide, I just don't like to share all about myself to everyone.

 

[Torchick08]

i love having on-line friends ! ^.^ the ones i talk to on a regular basis are the ones that people IRL know about. my longest OL friend i met last April so im actually new to the whole online friend thing but we still talk to this day and ive met other people OL from around the world. i have about 2 OL friends that actually know all about me the rest i only tell the good side of my life lol as for dating OL friends... ha ha... catfish anyone? been there... then there is the whole well im from canada your not. or i live on the east side of canada and i live on the west and we both have our own careers where we are... just a lot of effort i dont want to put in right now.. so stay just friends OL and life is grand ^.^ people IRL know i have OL friends but not that i tried dating OL...

 

[Mawa]

I could never told my parents when I was younger that I had internet friends, because they think that internet is full of rapist/pedophiles. Now that I am in my 20s, well I don't even live with my parents anymore so they cannot tell me to not talking to someone online :P I have 2 friends for a couple of years now, and my mother know it and she accept it. My friends too I think. My best friend knows that at some point in my life I had more online friends than real one because I am not the social butterfly kind of person.

 

[starseed galaxy auticorn]

Well, I don't have many real life friends to start with. I have maybe three of them, and that's it. I have spoken to my parents about my online friends and my boyfriend even. They don't really seem to care as long as I'm happy. XD They know I'm careful with what I do online. They have also told me that if I plan on meeting my boyfriend or some of my online friends that they want to be there. They've also told me to make sure I meet them in a place with a lot people in case they do happen to not be who they say they are.

 

[Pendraflare]

I don't usually discuss it with others in real life, no. Sometimes I want to, just to mention how nice of people they are, but I feel that it'd be hard for people to really take me seriously. But at the same time, a friend from my creative writing class had a story about how she fell for a guy over the internet and they talked over such, so I don't know. Some people might do that, others might not.

 

[Alfieri]

While I do mention stuff that my online friends say or do, I never call them my online friend. I just refer to them as my friend. It makes it less weird for everyone and it's easier on me because it's one less word that has to come out of my mouth lol.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I have mentioned it on occasion. My parents don't really view online friends as friends. Growing up for them was a very outwardly social experience. So, unless you can go somewhere and do something together it doesn't quite count. I think they view online friends more like pen pals. lol

 

[Alfieri]

I have mentioned it on occasion. My parents don't really view online friends as friends. Growing up for them was a very outwardly social experience. So, unless you can go somewhere and do something together it doesn't quite count. I think they view online friends more like pen pals. lol

I actually agree with them. In-person is a totally different experience.

 

[moon]

I usually say "my friend in Ireland" when talking about Gav :p He's the only online person I talk to so much in several different media that he becomes relevant to mention.