Why do people think u can't make friends online?

Why is it so hard for some pple to believe that u can actually make friends with someone online?
I just read all 10 pages of this thread : http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=376463 . It's basically about "is it possible to find love online". About 70% of the replies are pple telling stories of how they met their love online, how everything worked out fine and they're now married with kids etc. So many successful meetings, it should convince pple that its possible, right? But then theres the other 30%, who posted stuff like "no its impossible", "it can never happen" (generally with no further explanation, or with the story of the one bad experience they had).

Personally i have many friends that ive met online, some that i've also met in real life (stayed in their houses, etc) only to discover that they were exactly the same fantastic pple i had pictured while i was IMing them. Some are people that i would trust with my life, that i love deeply.
Yet many people just don't believe me when i say that. They seem to think that the internet is evil, that no one online is who they pretend they are, that u cannot possibly meet someone online and then include them in your everyday life.
To me the internet is just a communication device, much like the phone. And i definitely meet more interesting pple online than i would in a bar in Paris.
Why is it so hard to imagine online friendships? Why do people still believe, in 2011, that everyone online is an obese pervert in a basement?
Is it that crazy to think that u can trust someone after u've been IMing them for months/years everyday?
And whats the difference between :
- agreeing on meeting a guy u've first met online, in a public place (bar, restaurant, lots of pple around), knowing that u share the same interests/values with him because u've spent time talking to him thru your keyboard,
- and agreeing on talking with a random guy in a bar ?

Also, what's your experience of online friendship?

 

ive met people that have added me on myspace or facebook. but we were from the same city. i do believe you can make friends with people online. i hope to meet some of you guys one day. BUT, there are some sickos out there who arent really who they say they are.

 

Some people are just slow to adjust to the ever changing landscape.

One day all relationships will be forged online and consummated in a rented holographic studio :love:


Hotwater

 

I consider a lot of people here to be friends of mine...not like the friends I have locally that I call at the drop of a hat, but a lot of people I've been friends with from this forum have done a lot for me in the sense of giving advice and helping when I'm in need.

I definitely think you can make friends online. I have friends on facebook that I've met online and have been just as good as some friends I have that I see regularly.

The thing I like about this forum is that I can talk about things I wouldn't normally tell people...its nice to get some of this stuff off my chest or help other people in need.

 

...and what do they have against obese basement perverts????

 

its kind of weird to have a online relationship with somebody who really don't know

 

some people say that on-line relationships never work out, because they had an on-line relationship that didn't work out.

likewise, there are people who have relationships that fail and decide that all relationships are bad and fake

 

I sort of have to laugh at people who end up dating or marrying someone they met in school. Out of the whole world, what are the chances that your most compatible mate goes to the same school as you yet alone lives in the same city? That's bullshit. I think it's the older generations fault. Yes, it /is/ your fault. Because us youngens can make friends online and blah blah. Even my old man says he doesnt understand how you can. Old man tales.

 

yea, but are they the majority? I dont think so. Plus there are sickos in your everyday life too..

Yes thats probably it.

lol i suppose the pervert part is not too appealing

How is that weirder than having a relationship with someone u've met two days ago?

YES. Its sad that people claim such things based on one bad experience

 

Maybe. Or its just people who have never talked to other pple online.

 

I think this depends. it's kind of romantic to think that there is one and only one person in the world who is the one you are meant to be with

more realistically, there are probably a lot of people that you could get along with

 

yes, but doesn't the obese and basement part more than make up for that???

 

friendship knows no boundaries.

 

boo the internet sucks.. Maybe try looking for your love on a blue sundae..

They sell em at McDonald's....

 

I`m skeptical that I will ever again want to meet anyone I have first met online. But, if it works for you, it works for me. I tried once or twice, but it didn`t really happen. I`m also very skeptical of meeting people at bars too, so.

I`m an equal opportunity recluse. :biggrin:

 

I started coming here a long time ago because I'd just gotten out of highschool and joined the army. I'd left scores of friends behind and I did use this place to fill a void.

Most everybody I used to associate with live miles and miles away and it all changes. For some reason this place never really changes. It's always there for me.

That sounds lame, but it's true.

 

my posts tend to be more cynical than my actual beliefs. maybe that's true of some other posters as well?

or maybe that thread's just full of old codgers who refuse to change with the times.

 

Most of my friends I met on here. And I've never met any of them in real life. But I probably talk to them more than any people I associate myself with in real life. RT used to be a great community with a lot of awesome regulars who I friggin' loved. Some of them turned out to be douches, but for every douche, there were 5 awesome people. Exactly.

 

Let's face it they were all douche bags, some were just less douchy


Hotwater

 

they were all douchebags, but most of them were awesome at it.