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[School Assignment] :: On-line friends
Mar. 6th, 2003 12:19 amJOUR 303 Choice Story
March 06, 2003
Friendships often form in many ways. One way friendships form is over the Internet. Message boards, chat rooms and newsgroups are places where close emotional bonds are formed over the Internet.
Stephanie Bone who runs P2K, a message board that was created for fan of TV's The X-Files, said she has seen many friendships formed on her boards.
"P2K gave people the opportunity to meet new people they would not have otherwise met," Bone said. "Some people who live in the same town or region began socializing in real life. Some moved across country and became roommates. And at least one group tries to get together each year."
Bone said seeing the friendships form has been amazing and that the only difference between these friendships and those created in everyday life is the environment in which they met.
"[Friendships built on-line] can rival real life friendships," Bone said. "They can be more honest than in real life, especially when you first meet someone. You do not know what these people look like. You only know who they are. It's hard to hide your true personality on a message board when your posts are based on your opinions of life, love, and everything in between. Some of my best friends were made online."
Allison Walentowicz, an Internet user, has also made many close friendships on-line. Many of her friends know one another as well.
"It's become a whole circle of friends, even though we've never all been in the same room with each other," Walentowicz said. "We all know each other's personalities and quirks. We have inside jokes and terminology. In fact, I talk to my online friends more than I talk to my friends from high school."
Walentowicz said one reason they all keep in contact is because of how they met.
"We have this means through which we often communicate - the Internet," Walentowicz said. "We met because of it. We utilize it often. We're always in communication."
She said that outside of their use of the Internet, all of her friends are very different, but that it's those differences that make the relationships work.
"We all come from different places and backgrounds," Walentowicz said. "It's an awesome resource to get a point of view on things that I would never be able to get from my friends at home who grew up exactly the same way I did. There are no new experiences to pull from them, but with my friends online, we are all different ages and have different families, histories, and upbringings. To not use that to your full advantage seems silly."
Walentowicz said she can't imagine what her life would be like today without her on-line friends.
"They have become such a part of who I am now," she said. "They're in the way I speak and how I deal with situations. Every day I'll see or hear something that will remind me of one of these people. They're such a breath of fresh air from the same old dribble of everyday stuff."
Even though both Bone and Walentowicz have only known good experiences with people on-line, they both say that people should be careful who they meet in real life and open up to on the Internet.
"If you spend everyday talking to these people and they know you as well for a long period of time, you can figure out if this person is a real threat to you," Bone said. "The internet has become another way people meet each other, but as with anything, be cautious."
Walentowicz said that her parents were a bit concerned when she first met some of her on-line friends in person, but that the fear has since gone away.
"Now Mom just looks at pictures of everyone and goes 'Tell me who's who'," Walentowicz said. "It's all very different, but the coolest thing is that I'm convinced I could go just about anywhere in the country and have someone that I could visit while there."
March 06, 2003
Friendships often form in many ways. One way friendships form is over the Internet. Message boards, chat rooms and newsgroups are places where close emotional bonds are formed over the Internet.
Stephanie Bone who runs P2K, a message board that was created for fan of TV's The X-Files, said she has seen many friendships formed on her boards.
"P2K gave people the opportunity to meet new people they would not have otherwise met," Bone said. "Some people who live in the same town or region began socializing in real life. Some moved across country and became roommates. And at least one group tries to get together each year."
Bone said seeing the friendships form has been amazing and that the only difference between these friendships and those created in everyday life is the environment in which they met.
"[Friendships built on-line] can rival real life friendships," Bone said. "They can be more honest than in real life, especially when you first meet someone. You do not know what these people look like. You only know who they are. It's hard to hide your true personality on a message board when your posts are based on your opinions of life, love, and everything in between. Some of my best friends were made online."
Allison Walentowicz, an Internet user, has also made many close friendships on-line. Many of her friends know one another as well.
"It's become a whole circle of friends, even though we've never all been in the same room with each other," Walentowicz said. "We all know each other's personalities and quirks. We have inside jokes and terminology. In fact, I talk to my online friends more than I talk to my friends from high school."
Walentowicz said one reason they all keep in contact is because of how they met.
"We have this means through which we often communicate - the Internet," Walentowicz said. "We met because of it. We utilize it often. We're always in communication."
She said that outside of their use of the Internet, all of her friends are very different, but that it's those differences that make the relationships work.
"We all come from different places and backgrounds," Walentowicz said. "It's an awesome resource to get a point of view on things that I would never be able to get from my friends at home who grew up exactly the same way I did. There are no new experiences to pull from them, but with my friends online, we are all different ages and have different families, histories, and upbringings. To not use that to your full advantage seems silly."
Walentowicz said she can't imagine what her life would be like today without her on-line friends.
"They have become such a part of who I am now," she said. "They're in the way I speak and how I deal with situations. Every day I'll see or hear something that will remind me of one of these people. They're such a breath of fresh air from the same old dribble of everyday stuff."
Even though both Bone and Walentowicz have only known good experiences with people on-line, they both say that people should be careful who they meet in real life and open up to on the Internet.
"If you spend everyday talking to these people and they know you as well for a long period of time, you can figure out if this person is a real threat to you," Bone said. "The internet has become another way people meet each other, but as with anything, be cautious."
Walentowicz said that her parents were a bit concerned when she first met some of her on-line friends in person, but that the fear has since gone away.
"Now Mom just looks at pictures of everyone and goes 'Tell me who's who'," Walentowicz said. "It's all very different, but the coolest thing is that I'm convinced I could go just about anywhere in the country and have someone that I could visit while there."
