Online friends

There was no EC when I came out, but I was a member of some forums back then and found a lot of support and friendship through them. Said forums no longer exist, but I'm still in touch with a few members and I've actually met up with some of the people. Only one negative experience.

 

I used to have a lot of online friends, where we talked everyday for years; but life happened and we kind of moved on. Though I have some of their facebooks...I just never really start a conversation with them. I do however have one online friend that I met four years ago and we've been talking everyday. Yes we text each other and we've even talked to each other over the phone. It helped that we sort of both came out as transgender together and been supporting each other since. Though I think you really need to get to know the person and trust them before handing out your phone number, cause you never know.

I had this one creepy experience with an online friend I met via an animal crossing website where you can give out your friend codes and visit towns (I was in middle school at the time). Basically met this guy and he kept asking for my picture though I kept saying no, one because I didn't know him and two because I hate giving out pictures of myself in general. Buuut I was dumb and gave the guy my instant messenger and he still wanted my picture. I don't remember how it ended but I think I just got too creeped out and I ignored him. He never got my pic though. .__.

I also had another bad experience (not creepy). I've had one really bad falling out. I was skyping one friend, just voice chat, and I wanted her to say hi to my mom and sister...but she acted like a real weirdo and my mom was not pleased. She (my mom) basically wanted me to get rid of all of my online friends (but that didn't happen).

But overall I've met some pretty awesome people online. Like you guys!

 

I do have some people on things like kik but I would never give out my real number and my full name etc. I think I have only told 2 people my actual number who were online but i trust them .
I always am careful when it comes to online because there are a lot of weirdos nowadays..

 

My online friends know more about me than my real ones .-.

 

That happens to me too at times x.x

 

I have online friends in place of real ones. Not many, but I'm fine texting them.

Sure, I've had many negative experiences. A few good ones. I don't really tell them personal info though, just basic information about me. It's quite mutual.
And EC has got to be the best group of online friends yet

 

I had two friends online. It was a disaster.

I thought they were my friends but then, they showed up only two envious, stupid, complete failure snotty kids who vented their frustrations on me.

What a stupid people...

Now, only EC and stop.

 

I am apart of a secret community of online people who get together and talk about whatever they want. Only certain peeps get in, decided on by the community as a whole.

 

I've never had any real bad experiences with my online friends. To be honest, they're really the only people I open up to and talk with compared to my very inward/ antisocial IRL self.

 

I've only had online friends for years. I'm horrible at social interactions.

Its always sad when they disappear some day. Like they quit playing the game they met you on. But that doesn't happen with them all. I've been friends with one for 7+ years. I was friends with another for around 5 until he died. Great friends.

I don't do texting and such with "real" people let alone online ones. I do Ventrilo, teamspeak, etc (think Skype) with them.

 

I have a few but not many

 

I have quite a few online friends. I consider them to be some of my closest friends and I value them just as much as the people I see everyday. I met them on twitter and we text all the time and we talk on the phone often. One of them lives just a few hours from me and we actually got to meet in 2011 at a Gaga show and it was great. We're planning on meeting again this summer for Warped.

There's one that I met who just happened to live literally right down the street from me. We've hung out a couple times. I'm planning on meeting another one of them at a Gaga show for the first time this summer, and I'm also planning on meeting two of them next summer and we're going to see each other's hometowns. I think the internet is an easy way to meet people with the same interests as you and I'm totally not against becoming friends with people or texting them. I always make sure I know them well before I give them my number anyway, and I've never had a bad experience with it.

 

I agree! I know how to detect whether someone is for real or not and I'm friends with all of them on Facebook so I can see that they're legit. I think there's definitely a stigma associated with being friends with people online where I feel like if I tell the friends I know in real life about it, they'll think it's weird, but a friend is a friend and I love to talk to people so it's all good with me!

 

The thing I like about the internet, especially forums like this, is the way it bridges certain gaps and divides, eg. class, status, age, race, nationality. When I'm posting/chatting on here, these issues hardly cross my mind, but in day to day life these issues dominate so many relationships - especially in this country.

Yes, there are issues, if you get talking to the wrong person and I can see why EC has some fairly strict policies in place to keep this forum safe, but for all the negatives there are many positives.

I was helped enormously by some online friends when I came out 15-16 years ago. Had it not been for them, I might have found the whole process much more daunting, so I'm fairly positive about online friendships (with the usual cautionary details).

 

Online friends have gotten me through some really rough times, I'm definitely closer with peeps I've met on forums than any of my friends in-person. Since I've only come out online I've been able to share a part of my life with online friends that I haven't shared with anyone else. Plus I tend to get really shy and awkward around people sometimes so being online has made it a lot easier to connect and find folks I have things in common with

 

I usually dont talk to too many people online there have been a few exceptions but i eventually just get out of contact with them somehow

 

There's only two from EC that I talk to offline on a regular basis.