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Friends In Digital Places

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ElectroYoshi
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Friends In Digital Places

Post by ElectroYoshi »

This is an essay I wrote for my Advanced Senior Literature class. Essentially, it's about how online friendships are no different from real life ones, and that they can be just as meaningful. To illustrate this point, I discussed this community a bit (albeit rather ambiguously). The whole essay can be found in the spoiler below. Enjoy!
Spoiler
Friends in Digital Places When I discovered the Internet, it never dawned on me that strong friendship could be created in such a place. What can I say? As far as I was concerned, all online interaction really amounted to was typing something and clicking the “send” button. However, that was false. Just like many other things I thought when I was seven.

As someone who plays a lot of video games, I enjoy talking about them with other people. In 2010, I stumbled across a gaming community that I’m still part of now. I was excited about finding this place. I liked the idea of talking about video games with people across the rest of the world, because it would allow me to get a variety of perspectives on any topic (Well, that and I hated my real-life classmates). Everyone there had a mutual interest in video games and played them frequently, with many of them hoping to become video game designers one day.

For a long time my relationship with these guys was fairly normal. We’d post on the site about our favorite video games, and our concerns about the industry. We never got “up close and personal” for the first couple of years. But after about a year and a half, that started to change. One thing led to another, and some of us started to become far closer. Good timing too, because 2012 was not a great year for me. I lost friends in real life, had people I was close to move away, struck out with a girl I was in love with, among other things. At that point, the idea that I was living the “best years of my life” seemed utterly cringe-worthy to me. But that was OK, because my online group was there to help me get through it. Just visiting with them was enough to improve my mood. It seemed weird at first venting to people over Skype, but it became natural after awhile. Because, really, even if your friends can’t physically “be there” for you, as long as they’re willing to listen to you, who cares?

On top of that, I have a lot of fun with these people. We really enjoy playing games and mocking each other on forum threads and Skype (On our Skype chat, I actually hold the record for “most awkward silences created”). In this regard, they’re like my real life friends. The only difference is that when I do things with my real life friends, I don’t need an Internet connection, which is nice considering how terrible my internet at home is. Barring that, my online friendships are pretty much identical on that front.

None of us have ever met in person, but not because we don’t want to. Some of us live in the US, some in the UK, some in Austria, some in Canada, among other countries. We’ve discussed the idea of meeting in person several times before, but since we’re all over the place, it’s a pretty big investment that we’re too cheap poor to make. Even after five years, we have never pulled it off. What makes that hard to swallow is that it’s possible that it won’t ever change. Online relationships can be hard to hold on to, and if you’re not careful, you might end up losing contact without meaning to. By the time you have enough money to meet in person, it’s possible that you won’t be in contact with that person anymore.

Many people tell me that online friends are not “real” because you just talk online and be done with it. Well, I’m sorry, but the truth is, I really don’t think they’re in a place to judge. Picture this for me: You make friends with someone in real life. The two of you are the best of friends for years and years. Then one day, that person moves to another state. But the two of you vow to continue to keep in touch over Skype, Facebook, Twitter, etc.. Would you call that “not a real friendship”? You’d mostly be talking online from that point forward, so would that render your connection moot? Are other online relationships fake just because they start online and not in person?

Well, are they?

Not if you’re doing it right. To this day, my group and I have fond memories of chatting on Skype, messing around on Minecraft servers, and helping each other when we needed it most. It all boils down to that connection you develop, and those experiences you have as you get to know people. As long as you have a connection with the person, that friendship can continue to grow and thrive, and make you happy in the process, even if it’s online.

Unless your electricity goes out. That could pose a problem.
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
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Entity
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Post by Entity »

awe <3
We never got “up close and personal” for the first couple of years. But after about a year and a half, that started to change. One thing led to another, and some of us started to become far closer.
OMB fanfic needs to happen
:crate: :crate: :crate: :crate: :crate: :crate:
Bad At Gravity
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Post by Bad At Gravity »

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ThatOneFox
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Post by ThatOneFox »

electro x papaya OTP
:skull: :bungee: Keith Keiser has a better ass than you :bungee: :skull:
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Post by Bad At Gravity »

Entity wrote:awe <3

OMB fanfic needs to happen

OH GERSH NO!
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jhjoseph91
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Post by jhjoseph91 »

Entity wrote:OMB fanfic needs to happen
100% scared already.
i'm from another dimension!
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Post by Bad At Gravity »

NOPE.
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papaya
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Post by papaya »

honestly if this is a serious essay trying to convince someone that online friends are just as cool as real life friends, it's both a) really short and b) not very convincing
(Well, that and I hated my real-life classmates).
stuff like this just comes across as like needlessly edgy. Y'kno, you're still talking about online friends as though they're vastly different from real life friends, you're not really making me feel like they are one and the same

there were also so many quips and throwaway jokes ("Unless your electricity goes out. That could pose a problem.") that it was kinda hard to take you seriously.

internet friends ARE different to real life friends, especially if your only contact with them is thru text. If you're speaking to them on skype, or any other way of talking, then maybe, but a lot of communication between two people is through gestures or body language. Over the internet, those dont really translate that well. Does that make having internet friends worse than having real life friends? not really. But your essay is on why they're the same as real life friends, not why it's ok to have online friends. Having online friends only causes some bad habits (see: me) like struggling to make meaningful friendships outside of the internet. it's better to have both.

also is this really for a writing class? this is only 800 words, thats pretty pisspoor

verdict: C+ see me after class
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ElectroYoshi
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Post by ElectroYoshi »

papaya wrote:honestly if this is a serious essay trying to convince someone that online friends are just as cool as real life friends, it's both a) really short and b) not very convincing


stuff like this just comes across as like needlessly edgy. Y'kno, you're still talking about online friends as though they're vastly different from real life friends, you're not really making me feel like they are one and the same

there were also so many quips and throwaway jokes ("Unless your electricity goes out. That could pose a problem.") that it was kinda hard to take you seriously.

internet friends ARE different to real life friends, especially if your only contact with them is thru text. If you're speaking to them on skype, or any other way of talking, then maybe, but a lot of communication between two people is through gestures or body language. Over the internet, those dont really translate that well. Does that make having internet friends worse than having real life friends? not really. But your essay is on why they're the same as real life friends, not why it's ok to have online friends. Having online friends only causes some bad habits (see: me) like struggling to make meaningful friendships outside of the internet. it's better to have both.

also is this really for a writing class? this is only 800 words, thats pretty pisspoor

verdict: C+ see me after class
Uh, it's a personal (for lack of a better word) essay. It's not really intended to sway people one way or the other. That's also why I included jokes. On top of that, I was on a 900 word limit, so I kinda had to keep it short.
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
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papaya
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Post by papaya »

the hell kinda high school class has a 900 word limit

actually, the hell kinda high school class has any sort of word limit
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ElectroYoshi
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Post by ElectroYoshi »

One that's specifically designed to prepare you for the college application process...
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
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