None of my best friends are online only. I've found (through experience, unfortunately) that as wonderful as someone is online, you can never get a true idea of what the person is like unless you meet them in person.
So for me, I never let a friendship progress past a certain point until I actually spend some face-to-face time with the person. It takes me a long time to become close to someone, or at least to let someone get close to me. A lot of trust is involved, and that includes each of us seeing the other in less-than-optimum states. Tough to do solely through online communication.
I've also found limits to the friendships I can cultivate that are mainly through online contact.
However, I do know people who DO have purely online close friendships who have perfectly satisfied.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-12-14 08:16 pm (UTC)So for me, I never let a friendship progress past a certain point until I actually spend some face-to-face time with the person. It takes me a long time to become close to someone, or at least to let someone get close to me. A lot of trust is involved, and that includes each of us seeing the other in less-than-optimum states. Tough to do solely through online communication.
I've also found limits to the friendships I can cultivate that are mainly through online contact.
However, I do know people who DO have purely online close friendships who have perfectly satisfied.
It's not enough for me, however.