Online friends and expectations
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
October 28, 2010 3:19pm CST
I have met several online friends since I started using the internet, and a couple of them have become my close friends in real life. Sometimes I have been pretty surprised when I met people for the first time, because they were different from my expectations. I wouldn't say that I got disappointed, it just surprised me that they were different from the picture that I had in my head.
One of my online friends writes very short emails and she doesn't use many words online, and I sort of assumed that she would be quiet in real life, but in fact she is really talkative, and that surprised me. Another friend jokes a lot online, but appeared a lot more serious offline, that also surprised me.
Have you met any of your online friends? Have you ever been very surprised when you met an online friend in real life because that person was completely different from your expectations?
2 people like this
16 responses
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
29 Oct 10
We never know where friendships will come from. it is possible to have a very good relationship with someone online. Expectations may not always be what they seem. It can be a wonderful experience to have online friendships.1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
2 Nov 10
I agree with that. I have found some great friends online, and I have the chance to meet some of my online friends from my own country. I also have friends from other parts of the world and we can't just meet because of the distance, but the friendships are still important to me and we are able to share many things despite the fact that we have never met in person.
@sweetloveforeve (13107)
• Portugal
28 Oct 10
no i never met near my online friends. but i would like to meet some^^ but they live in other country so i cant for now^^ is normal that you were surprised bcs people say that online is easier to talk and express ourselves^^ maybe for your friend girl wasnt so easy to express online bcs she talks a lot in person so maybe she didnt feel too comfortable online^^ and your friend that joked too much online maybe doesnt have much confidence to joke much in real world^^ anyway im sure that when he meets you more in real world he will joke much^^ he just needs some confidence i guess^^ and i think that we all are a bit different in real world than online^^ i would feel shy in the beginning when met my online friends in real life^^
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
29 Oct 10
It is not easy to meet when your friends live in another country, but I hope that you will get the chance to meet some of your friends one day. The ones I have met have been from my own country, but I also have some online friends from other parts of the world and I haven't had the chance to meet them, but maybe one day...
Sometimes it takes a while to get to know eachother in real life even though you have been friends online for a while. I once met some of the other members of a group on a social networking site. Everyone was shy in the beginning and we didn't talk much, but after a while it became easier and we had a really good time together.
@thaMARKER (2503)
• Philippines
30 Oct 10
i made lots of friends online but it's like acquaintance level. not really chat with them on a daily basis. i don't talk much about everything online or with people i don't know very much. i just don't feel like talking most of the time.
@torchablazed (3218)
• Philippines
28 Oct 10
I guess that was the fun part of it in meeting someone- surprises, I do have meet a lot of friends whom I just meet online. Others you seemed to expect that you are very "close" but surprisingly the other person is too shy or say different but not all of them of course.
Yes, there are who seemed to be very talkative but in real life is very silent. I meet a very good friend though who for years now we remain good friends although this person is far from me, we exchange emails alot and chat once in a while. However, there are those who had a bad experience with meet ups, I say we have to be extra careful with whom we are going to meet too but of course these are some exemptions.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
28 Oct 10
That is true, we have to be careful when we decide to meet online friends. I always meet my online friends at a public place the first time and the first meeting is usually pretty short like a few a couple of hours. That way we get a chance to get to know eachother and see if we get along. Sometimes the first meeting becomes much longer than I planned. That happened to me when I met one of my online friends for the first time. We were just planning on a drinking a cup of coffee together, but we ended up talking for several hours, because we had so much in common.
@gdesjardin (1918)
• United States
30 Oct 10
I have met a few of my online friends in person. They were pretty much what I had pictured them to be, but maybe that is because we talked on the phone several times before we ever met in person. I am pretty outgoing so usually the people I talk to online are a lot like me. I do have one friend that is very shy, but we still got along when I met her in person. She is a great listener and I had to do the majority of the talking, but we still have a lot in common. Most of the people I met online either live far away from me, or in another country, so getting together is hard.
1 person likes this
@saqi78 (1402)
• Malaysia
28 Oct 10
Yes, you are right, and I have the same experience with my online friends. Actually the reason of this in my mind is expression of your feelings through different ways. Some are good in personal, they are talkative and very funny in daily life but they may not be good when asked to write all their talks or experience but on other hand the people who are always silent, less talkative in their personal life may have good writing skills and they could express themselves very good when they are asked to write all these things
So I think it is only due to their way of expression, some are good in one way and others are good in other way....
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
28 Oct 10
Yes, some people are very good at writing and less good at expressing themselves face to face, and some people are good at talking to people and not very good at writing. One of my friends once had an online friend that wrote very, very long letters, but when they met, her online friend was extremely quiet. My friend found it hard to believe that it was the same girl and the meeting didn't turn out the way that she had expected. I guess that girl was one of the people who is much better at expressing herself in written words.
@mods196621 (3652)
• Philippines
29 Oct 10
Yes but once and it is a surprised to me also that their behavior or characteristic is different from the net. As i know i feel that have my another character when i was at net. What i am at net is when i was at net and i have feel the strange feelings and this is really i feel. Maybe when we are the face to face we can feel relax. The big factor for me according to my own experienced is if i am online and got here nmylot i have a different world from the reality. i can express all my feelings and emotion without barrier as I wanted to say things which is inside me. My true emotions. To think that no one knows who i am personally. This is the simple reason why we had another characteristic in real.
@his0yir (258)
•
29 Oct 10
Lots of people have different characters when they are expressing themselves in front of other people on the Internet. I assume in a virtual environment we all feel a bit of difference within us.
I don't normally make friends online as I prefer interaction in real life. But I am sure if I did there would be big margin between reality and expectation.
1 person likes this
@kodukodu84 (1569)
• Malaysia
29 Oct 10
I never met any online friends at all, the only place I accept friend request from strangers is in mylot but I never communicate with them personally. I only respond to their post if it's interesting. Your story is really nice, and yes a good surprise is always the best part in friendship.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (72285)
• Philippines
29 Oct 10
We all have expectations with our online friends and most of them are not doesn't exactly fit the way they are in real life. It is indeed surprising that's why I don't wanna meet any of them because i want to think of them as what they are to me when we're talking online.
1 person likes this
@jsita2010 (9)
• India
29 Oct 10
Yes you are absolutely correct. I do have many online friends, some times we try to meet, their photos, characters everything entirely different than what we are seeing online. most of them are entirety different than what they are . why people are making such a different expression on others ? what we are having that is enough to make good friends...
1 person likes this
@hakuyo (200)
•
28 Oct 10
I can't really answer your question because i have never met with my online friends, well i have few online friends and i don't want to meet with them because i think that meeting with people you barely know is kind of weird and dangerous as well. But i think i might try because some of my online friends are trustworthy
1 person likes this
