This months Share Our Lives linky prompt is: How you met your significant other or Best friend. I blogged last year about how I met my fella. (It was online) and this months topic got me thinking about how most of my best friends are now online one's.
A long, long time ago, probably around 25 years ago the internet was a strange and brand new thing to me. It seemed like uncharted territory but fast forward to today and it's where all my friends live! Obviously not in the internet but that's how I stay in touch with them. I do have friends that I see in real life but even then we still use the internet to stay in touch.
Most of my online friends are the incredible people that I've never met in person but who've touched my life in the most meaningful ways.
My longest ever friendship is with someone who I met online way back in the late 90's and I can't even remember how. I am sure it must have been a chat room of some sort and then we progressed to speaking on MSN messenger. I've seen him go through a divorce, start a business, get remarried, have children and he's seen me go through messy break ups, having kids, dealing with ex's and much more. We can go months without speaking and then pick up where we left off. He is a guy but there has never been anything sexual, we have always just been friends but we have never met in person.
One of the most amazing things about online friendships is the diversity of people you can meet. From different corners of the world, these friends bring unique perspectives, cultures and experiences to your life.
Years ago I used to speak online to a lot of people from America which seemed such a different life compared to here in the UK. We would chat about our kids and just day to day things. The great thing was with the time difference when my two were babies and I was up feeding them or they were not sleeping there was always someone online to talk to. I have discovered a few American based linkies, including this one which I love joining in with, seeing other people's lives from across the pond.
Way, way back when I first got a Facebook account just after Ellie my youngest was born I played all the Farmville type games and added people to my friends list to play and there is only one who has lasted through all of the culls of my friends list. I don't even know how we met but I have seen so much of her life and her mine. I would class her as a real friend. There has been times in my life where I have said things on Facebook and she has offered support, an ear and wise words.
Sometimes it is easier to talk to online friends when you haven't met them in person. There's something about the screen that makes it easier to share your thoughts and feelings. You can pour your heart out without fearing judgment and if they did happen to judge you can just block them. Eek!
Through blogging I have made some wonderful friends. Yes we have the common interest of blogging but also a lot of them are just my type of people too. One of my best bloggy friends is Jayne from Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs. We used to comment on each other's blogs and still do but I don't even know how we got chatting a bit more privately, I think it was through Messenger as we couldn't keep up with social media. Some of our conversations have really made me laugh out loud but Jayne has also been a shoulder to cry on, been there when I have needed to vent and ask for advice. She really is one of the good one's. Another blogger I consider a real friend is Anne from Raisie Bay. Our girls are of similar ages and she is just the nicest, most positive person.
So to all my online friends out there here's a virtual cheers to the amazing friendships that we have built you make the digital world a brighter and warmer place!
Have you got any amazing online friends?
I am linking up with:
Dara from Not In Jersey.
Jen from Show me & Sweet tea.
Joanne from Slices of Life.
Sarah from Toronto Sam.
I loved the early days of the internet when I was in my late teens, like you I had lots of online friendships, I even used to go to small overnight meet ups with people that were into the same television show as me - I would never let my kids do that! I worked through my teenage angst with lots of online penfriends. I don't use social media so much these days but I do love following blogs and watching other families grow and change over the years.
ReplyDeleteI find that most of my friendships nowadays are online ones too; I have a few in real life friends too but it's so hard to get together in person with all our kids going every which way just now.
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful for online friends, as they often give different perspectives since they live in different places. I loved reading about how you and Stu met - very similar to how my husband and I met. And you're right...things definitely felt different 17+ years ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all your observations about online friendships and I have some very special and longstanding online friends too. I joined a bulletin board community for moms when my third son was an infant and I am still friends with some of those other moms, and have met some of them in person. I've also stayed in touch with the online friends in a July 2001 due date board from an online moms community - we all had babies due in that month. Wonderful supportive group all through the pregnancies, and our kids growing up years and all the other things that happened throughout our lives. And having moved away from my in-person friends, I'm super grateful for the ability to stay in touch with them through social media and messaging. Loved this post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with us. I loved reading this perspective.
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