Last month, Annie, came up with an excellent discussion question regarding why we all blog. She's at it again. Here's this month's question:
I feel very Carriesque at this moment in time.
**Do you believe that friendships formed via the internet are as strong as
those formed by meeting friends face-to-face? Why or why not? **
So once again, I present you with my answer as posted on her blog. Please feel free to disregard as you so choose:
I have to hand it to you, you always find a way to make sure that you get us all thinking. As always (my disclaimer) the following are MY opinions and my opinions only. I respect everyone elses view on things. I am just about to ramble my own thoughts on the question at hand. OK, now that the legalities are out of the way. . . . . .
Online friendships vs. face-face????
I think that a friendship is a friendship. The manner in which the friendship is started is of little significance. What IS of significance is how the friendship affects those involved. The level of the commitment, intimacy between the 2 parties and the care between the 2 is the ruler by which a friendship should be evaluated. How a friendship is constructed or maintained is not or should not be a factor in the measurement on said friendship. How a person responds to someone else's needs and how the two interact is what establishes the 'importance' or 'meaning' of the relationship. Being in physical proximity to eachother is of little consequence if people aren't supportive of eachother. Listening to each other, supporting each other, boosting each other, laughing with, crying with, respecting each other for who you each are, reaching out to each other and helping each other; these are the measures of a true friendship. I have made online friends that are more supportive of me and who I am and what I need than the acquantances I see on a daily basis. A true friend takes you for who you truly are and loves you for that. No questions asked, unconditionally and as you are. That is how a friendship should be measured and I think that all that can certainly be fulfilled no matter whether you have 'met' the person or not.
Posted by: knittingnurse at October 28, 2005 05:36 PM
2 comments:
I agree with you. Friends don't have to be in close proximity with you to be close. I think of my blog friend during the day, talk about them with my face-to-face friends and family, spend time talking/typing to them. They are truly my friends. I feel like if I met them in person, it would be like we had known each other for a long time.
Amy
Thanks for the mention. It was an interesting discussion and I came away with different thoughts. Which is a good thing!
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