Netfriendship

Meeting someone online is almost like meeting someone in person. Only that it is literally your fingers who’s doing the talking and the absence of visibility to the person’s physical elements. It is a way of sharing yourself to someone who you met online.

The screen barrier, on the other hand, serves as a mask to some to hide who they really are, and a transparent film to the others that enables them to freely talk and open up their hearts to someone who’s totally stranger and just tell them whatever is it that you wanted to say or whatever is it that you truly feels.

Why are we online, anyway? To break life’s monotony, to share our thoughts and opinions without the fear of being judged or criticized, to share a good laugh, to seek an advice, or just to have somebody around when all friends are out.. or maybe to discover how others go through their daily lives and to eventually have a friend.. who knows? We just might get lucky!

Well, that’s given with the fact that we really don’t know who you can come across with. And when we’d meet someone worth spending our time talking with, then we would find this small messenger window on our screen who’s responding to our every line and every smile. And before we even know it, we already have a netfriend that could make us smile despite a very toxic day at work and the problems with your life.

Netfriendship, I believe, can be built in time, like real friendship. It is the constancy that matters and the willingness to share ourselves. Only that we share our stories, emotions, all the highs and lows of our day.. on the screen. It lacks human touch and we could only give and receive comfort through the emoticons because that’s the only way to share our emotions.

But we cannot discount the comfort, the joy and the laughs while we are facing the screen and the warm feelings that the emoticons gives us. Its just heart-melting, most of the time. And we feel absolutely close to the other person behind all those words and smileys.

But netfriends must be able to draw the line where they would stop, and be clear if what’s said on the screen remains on the screen. Because most of the time, there’s no next level to it. And we really have to keep an eye on the fine line that separates the virtual world from the reality. It will be so damn funny when you get a brokenheart because your netfriend cannot love you back for real.

Who wants a relationship with their computer screen anyway? Who would want the smileys rather than real hugs and kisses from someone who is right there in our face and who’s touch we can feel?

Netfriendship has no commitment. You talk when you both want to talk. Even one of you shows up ‘available’, there are times that you don’t talk.. and neither of you would question the other why. We cannot be possibly jealous of the other ‘netfriends’ that our netfriend has, though sometimes we do (admit it, ok?)

But you have to accept that you aren’t the only one in existence in his/her net life!

Photo Credits: soccersam.com, istockphoto.com