Are online friends 'real' friends?

[ScarsLove]

I'm just extremely shy irl and lack alot of confidence. But I'm working on that. I'd have to say that I'm as nice as I am online as I am irl. So I'm about the same, except way more joking and sarcastic irl

[InsaneSeagull]

Lol, I'm probably way nicer online that IRL x) People would get disappointed if they met me hahaha.

Ahahhaha, yeah, Frida, we are the same for this X)

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

There are a lot of people I "know" online but there are only a handful I would consider close friends and I am very blessed to have them in my life.

[PrincessKiara]

Yes. I personally think true friendships can be formed online.

Example: A guy I met online (he emailed me in regards to my Kiara website) is someone I consider one of my best and closest friends. Have I met him irl? No, not yet anyway. We have known each other for seven years, and I trust him completely. We have exchanged pictures, talked on the phone plenty of times, we text a couple times a week and send each other packages for christmas and our birthdays. I truly care about him, and I feel that I know him very well although we have never actually met.

[Tora]

If anything online friends are more truthful than ones you've met in person.

[SlayerOfLight]

Online friends can rarely be 100% trusted or relied on. No matter if anyone disagrees or not, it is the truth and I already learned this myself. Maybe if you met your online friend(s) several times in RL, But otherwise not.

[Tora]

Online friends can rarely be 100% trusted or relied on. No matter if anyone disagrees or not, it is the truth and I already learned this myself. Maybe if you met your online friend(s) several times in RL, But otherwise not.

What makes this truth? Fear?

[Carl]

Approximately 95% of my online friends have proven that they can be trusted. Approximately 0% of my irl friends have proven the same.

[Scars Mate]

Approximately 95% of my online friends have proven that they can be trusted. Approximately 0% of my irl friends have proven the same.

I hate to say it, but it's pretty much the same for me.

[ScarsLove]

If anything online friends are more truthful than ones you've met in person.

I would say that friendships made online are alot riskier to make imo than friends irl. You know who you're about to talk to irl but not online. What if I told you I was a stinky 50 year old man posing as a 17 year old teenage girl to lure in prey? Anyone who knows me would know that's a lie but people who don't know me would get that picture in their mind. You never know who you're talking to through the internet which is why it's a riskier path to tread. But irl frends can be as risky. So it really all depends on the person. I know some online friends who are way more honest imo than anyone I've ever known irl besides my family.

And with what Juliette said, that goes for me as well