Over the years, I’ve made a couple of internet friends who have then gone on to become “real life” friends. In so doing, I have noticed quite an interesting pattern in regards to communications and it might only apply to me, but I still thought it worth sharing.
When I make new internet friends, I find that I speak to them online a lot. More, in fact, than my offline friends, since it is my only means of communication with them. We’ll share a lot about our lives and often talk long into the night. It’s interesting and exciting to get to know a new person and I love being introduced to new perspectives on things too.
However, once I’ve met them in person, it’s like a switch is flicked in my head. They’re no longer internet friends, but real friends just like everybody else. Before meeting them in person, I always worry (a little bit) that the chemistry we share won’t carry over into reality. Thankfully, it does do, but once speaking in reality is a viable option, speaking across the internet is just less appealing.
I mean, I could message them with all my life updates as and when they happen, but once I know that real life interaction is an aspect of a relationship, I always prefer to save things to talk about in person. I wonder if this has been true for many others with internet friends?
