[setsu nin to]

Of course that you can. Friend is friend no matter do you see him every day in real or on net.

[graham1]

Originally Posted by The BadBoy

Zeff, since when did the folk in England start using the word jerk?

(Sorry to butt in)

We started using it in the mid 20th century. It was amongst terms of abuse used by US servicemen that were popularized here in the 1940's/1950's. We don't use it too much now, as we have our own terms, & there is now a lot less restriction on what can be said in public.

[Tease T Tickle]

Originally Posted by samurai6string

Way to kill the e-buzz, TTT. Don't worry, you're not really an e-friend anyway, you're more like a crotchety e-neighbor who pops in to rifle through your CDs and books and tell why they all suck.

<I find your collection of Celine Dion records>

Samurai....no....you too?

<You try to convince me they were left there by your exgirlfriend and you're waiting for her to pick them up "any time now.">

Don't lie to me. Your taste sucks.

[samurai6string]

No, really, that's why they are all in that neat little box! Oh, the CD player? Um, so they won't get scratched in the meantime?

[Gazelle]

People can make friends with others e-characters over the internet...whether people are being themselves or there not, there's always a mask over people on the internet. In person that mask dissolves somewhat, through seeing peoples body language and such. If too people are honest, and they trust that this is so, they can make real friends over the internet, i think, or at least begin one. Afterall, those things are indeed the foundations of a good friendship, along with a rather handy thing of them actually getting along! But, i think, seeing people face-to-face either seals it, or doesn't.

I have friends over the internet, friends which i like very much, and whom i talk to about pretty much anything. There's a security on the internet, a detachment, as TTT hinted at, and, it is something that i like. It helps me personally keep a clearer head when interacting with people. Do i class any of them as real friends? Yes, i think i do. I suppose it's all a matter of what one's definition of the term is really, as with anything.

[Tease T Tickle]

I like some people I've met online. I have had relatively important conversations with people I've met online, most notably Bamboo and NBotary. To me, however, this is not a friendship.

Friends are people you can count on: people who help you move your furniture to your new apartment, people who act as a wingman when you meet a woman at the bar, people who break kneecaps when somebody keys your car.

Friends are people for whom you would bend over backwards so that their lives are better: people for whom you'd push a dead car uphill in the snow, people for whom you'd have a good talkin' to when their significant other starts cheating on them, people whom you let crash at your place when they're drunk and too young to be drinking legally.

Ask yourself how many people you meet online you'd really be willing to let sleep in your bed for a night or how many people you meet online you'd expect to help rebuild your vehicle's transmission.

[Gazelle]

The thing is, i don't neccessarily expect any of my friends to do things like that. I hope that they would, but not expect it of them. I know that at least the few guys i spend time with would do such things, they would do what they could to help me, but, i think some people just naturally wouldn't do quite so much, if you see what i mean, though i could be wrong about that.

As for what i'd do for people of the internet. The bizarre thing is, i would do a fair few of those things for a couple of people i've met on the internet...i would be willing to spend a fair amount of time to help them out, if i could so over the internet. Perhaps, i'd be less inclined to do so than those that i know in person, and perhaps i'd need a few hours just to ensure they were who they said they were in person, before i'd let them sleep over, my caution wouldn't allow it anyother way. Which sort of affirms, i guess with what other people have said. I guess it's different for different people (strangly enough), and, perhaps i'm a little too soft with such things for my own good! But, Bamboo has already mentioned about him and Black Pantha...

[Sparky-bjj]

I like some people I've met online. I have had relatively important conversations with people I've met online, most notably Bamboo and NBotary. To me, however, this is not a friendship.

Friends are people you can count on: people who help you move your furniture to your new apartment, people who act as a wingman when you meet a woman at the bar, people who break kneecaps when somebody keys your car.

Friends are people for whom you would bend over backwards so that their lives are better: people for whom you'd push a dead car uphill in the snow, people for whom you'd have a good talkin' to when their significant other starts cheating on them, people whom you let crash at your place when they're drunk and too young to be drinking legally.

Ask yourself how many people you meet online you'd really be willing to let sleep in your bed for a night or how many people you meet online you'd expect to help rebuild your vehicle's transmission.

I agree with TTT. The internet is a pretty weird place. I just don't trust people over the internet without having met them in real life. You never know what kind of psycho is on the other side. Or maybe that beautiful girl you've been talking to, who even send you a picture is really a bunch of drunk guys who are having a laugh. Everyone can tell you whatever the hell they want over the internet.
And even if they're honest, you just don't really know them without seeing them in real life. The internet is a powerfull thing. For example: without eye contact that shy guy on the other side is propably a lot more self confident. The character of a person changes slightly over the internet. And in some cases it changes a lot. Also, subconciously eyecontact and overall appearance of a person plays an important roll in the relationship you have with him.
And, like TTT said, in order for someone to be a friend he has to do some friend-like things like for example: loyalty. A big part of a friendship involves your friend physically interfering when you're in trouble, that's impossible over the internet. And when I'm sad, it also comforts me much more to have a friend who I can actually see who's trying to cheer me up, instead of sitting at your computer chatting away with people you think you know.

[nbotary]

I wouldn't necessarily call them a friend as much as I would an aquaintance. I've always felt that a friend is someone you can call up when the shit's hittin' the fan and you know they're still going to bail you out, no questions asked, becuase they know you'd do it for them.

In today's day and age, it's very easy to be someone else when you're hiding behind a computer screen. You never know who it is you're dealing with on the other end. I would be more than happy to meet anyone of you and hang out with you. However, I would not be so quick as to invite you into my home until I had gotten to know you better outside of my home. Since you don't know me that well, I would expect the same treatment in return and would not take offense to not being invited into your home the first couple of times we hung out. It's just a matter of trust...