I asked the question today on Authonomy: "How many of your online 'friends' would you stay in touch with if you left the site?". It was interesting how few people responded. Of those who did there was a consensus that although we have lots of virtual friends, most of those do not cross over into real life. Most of my virtual pals even use a dedicated email address so that virtual life and real life don't become confused.
So, answering my own question : the only site in which I have ever taken an active part is Authonomy. Have I made any real friends? - yes, I think so - but only 6. Everyone else is just an online persona.
Why do these 6 people stand out? - The friendship thing went beyond the forum into the area of mutual help offsite. I value these contacts as much as any of my RL friends, and to return to my earlier question, 2 of these have already left Authonomy but we remain in contact.
I try to apply a couple of rules to my friendships:
Online - I don't do flirting
Offline - I don't do hurting.
If I regard you as a friend, I'm afraid you're stuck with me - WYSIWYG
So, answering my own question : the only site in which I have ever taken an active part is Authonomy. Have I made any real friends? - yes, I think so - but only 6. Everyone else is just an online persona.
Why do these 6 people stand out? - The friendship thing went beyond the forum into the area of mutual help offsite. I value these contacts as much as any of my RL friends, and to return to my earlier question, 2 of these have already left Authonomy but we remain in contact.
I try to apply a couple of rules to my friendships:
Online - I don't do flirting
Offline - I don't do hurting.
If I regard you as a friend, I'm afraid you're stuck with me - WYSIWYG
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