Online buddies as important as RL friends?

K Jay

Cyber chums matter just as much
Say two-fifths of web users...

By Gemma Simpson

Published: Friday 1 December 2006

Virtual buddies are becoming as important as 'real life' chums to many an internet user, research from the Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California's (USC) revealed.

Over two-fifths (43 per cent) of members of online communities said they "feel as strongly" about their virtual friends as they do real world communities.

An average internet user has 4.65 friends online whom they have never met in person and 1.6 friends they've met in person after originally encountering them online.

Cyber chit-chat is also on the up with the number of bloggers more than doubling in the past three years.

Jeffrey Cole, director of the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, said we are now witnessing the true emergence of the internet as the powerful personal and social phenomenon many thought it would become.

The survey of over 2,000 people forms part of a six-year study into attitudes to the internet.

Im not sure which 4.65 of you I consider as important.... Oh and just to put in into perspective the other 57% of internet users thinks everyone onkline is a retard.

I had a sig, once.

Tyler Durden

Lol, good find!

What if you don't have any real life friends, how do you compare which friend type means more?

Not me, you understand, just if someone didn't (runs away crying!!)

If I had to pick 4.65 of you as real friends, I'd struggle. I mean sure, Eric the Aussie would be the 0.65 but how would I whittle down to 4 the rest of you. Or alternatively, how could I possibly pick 4 of you losers!!

Jayman

Super Moderator

:'( I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!

Well, everyone but Tyler...and Slim. Where is that nutjob?

And now, here it is...your moment of Carlin (10/10/2008)


I don't think we should be governing ourselves. What we need is a king, and every now and then if the king's not doing a good job, we kill him.

Griff0rd

I have a lot of buddies who are both, but yeah I consider my friends on line as legit of a friend as anyone else. I mean I spend approx 8 hours a day on here while I am at work, and I see them about every day. I actually game out of this site with GD on-line and we have talked to injuns together... so if that doesn't qualify as friendship... then we need to create a word equal to it carrying the same meaning, just not being "friend"

AudioSavior

I have met over 50 people from online and have a ton of online friends who are currently my "real" friends as well.

Sorry to disappoint but none of those are from posting forums hehe.

thirty7

Let's see if i'm still .65 after we spank you......in the Ashes that is.

I wish my sex life was like ECW, first you get a One Night Stand followed by 2 months of nostalgic orgasms and then 6 months of constant sucking.

Dr. Giganto

I've met one person that I was originally introduced to on the Internet. I had sex with her. It was nice...

Chewy

Well it was alright, I don't know about nice. My ass is sore though and I have to buy a new wig.

Blitzkrieg

Does MySpace count? Because I've met people who live near by on MySpace and then seen them around town and said "Hey!" and we became "friends"

Guardian Devil

Yes, Griff and I are like bestest e-buddies, thanks to WH/Xbox 360/Injuns. We're pretty much as close to real friends as you can be, without actually seeing each other in person. Hell, we both talked to the Super Injun who fixed our 360 problems....so I know you're real, lol. I think you can be buddies with someone over the net quite easily, I think it all boils down to the trust factor in the end. Do you trust them to be who they are, if so, then I think it's a friendship.

"yo james i see u on da flip side yo GD watch ya fuckin mouf i fuck u up but u aint nowhere in sight so what chu wanna do faggot"