I suspect when the internet was first becoming a household possibility that would have been a very weird concept. I suspect even today many people think online friends are a sad substitute for an inability to connect with people in real life. And I don't know, maybe that's true for some people.
But not for me. My online friends are good friends. Sure, I think in a lot of ways it's easier to connect when talking in person. If nothing else, I can talk faster than I can type, and there's tone and body language and all that non-verbal communication that enriches in-person talks. If I actually live near my online friends, I would.
But still, I am grateful to have them. In fact I probably talk to them about Important Things as often or more often then my in-person friends, just because it's so easy to continue conversations online, to drop them and come back, re-read where you left off, to share quick photos and videos and have private conversations concurrent with public threads and all that. Plus usually your online friends don't know anyone from your in-person life besides you, and in a way that's very liberating. You can speak more freely about things going on in your life, about your in-person relationships and your thoughts about those, without worrying about how what you say will affect the listener's perspective on the people you're talking about--because he or she doesn't know the people you're talking about! It's just a different dynamic.
ANYWAY. I'm adding this to my Joy Inventory because last night I had a lot of laughter trolling on a particular thread with one of my sister's and a couple of my friends. Plus we shared a bunch of GIFs and funny articles too. And I was thinking, "This is my Saturday night--goofing around online!" and then I was thinking, "And I am having a great time, hahaha!" And it made me happy.
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