Can someone you only know through social media be considered a true friend?

[Clay]

I meet new people on Twitter and Instagram and my blog, and some people, I have “known” for years, but have never met them in real life. Can these people be considered true friends?

I guess the place to start is, what is a friend?

[Dave]

A friend is someone where you have shared experiences and from that a bond is built. Wether you have met them or not is irrelevant. Personally I see online friendships build up the same way as those without the internet. Either way, you have to take people at face value and trust your judgement. For example there’s a lady on twitter in my hometown and when we met in person 1/2 way round a charity cycling event it felt natural to greet her with a hug and continue chatting but a bit more than 144 characters. Anyway, it’s great to be the first on this forum Clay. I am curious to see what other folks response is.

[Clay]

I like your idea of the “shared experience.” I think friendships develop along several different lines, one of which being a friendship that is based on a shared activity, like social networking in general or a topic like sports or games for example.

I do think the Internet helps bonds to form because you share something in common with someone. And as much as people say the Internet isolates people, that we spend too much time buried in our phones and therefore neglect to form “proper” relationships. But at the end of the day, I feel you are still communicating with another human being and therefore it is as real as communicating with them face to face.

I think the friendship pyramid does play a role in evaluating the quality of the friendship. You know the old saying, you have some friends who will help you move furniture and another set of friends who would help you move a body.

Here’s the friendship pyramid:

[Dave]

I am 4 or 3 person. I wonder if there’s a difference between men and women?