What are the pros and cons of making friends online?
Anonymous
on
Nov 12, 2016
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Online friendships are good but one should be careful and not lose themselves in the computer plus one has to make sure to not replace their real life friends with online friends.
â— Pros of online friendship are :-
1) One can befriend people from different states,countries and learn about their culture and lifestyle.
2) One can learn about others more faster online since people are generally more comfortable and find easier to express their opinions and share about themselves online by typing than talking.Even a shy person can approach others easily online.
3) One can take their own time to reply and they can easily stop the conversation if they are not comfortable with the person they are talking to.
4)One can learn about the other person through their user profile if the other person likes to update about themselves online.
5)And if it's about dating online then -Attraction can be based more on personality than their looks.
â— Cons of online friendship are :-
1)Lack of body language can lead to misunderstanding because emoticons don't always help.
2)To prevent miscommunication one needs to be careful of what they say.
3)An online friend can disappear overnight.One may never know who they are talking to and so providing too much information about oneself can be risky and very dangerous.
4)One always need to be careful and never let their guards down.It will be difficult to do this because friendship itself is all about trust and sharing and if you have to be cautious then I am not sure how much meaningful this friendship is going to be.
5)If they are nearby then you can meet them (... better to not go alone to meet them) but if they are too far then you cannot even meet them.(Specially it will be troublesome if it is online relationship)
6)One may get too much addicted to their mobile phones or computer and lose touch with reality.This could be very dangerous and it will not be a healthy way of living. Neither is it going to be good for one's physical health and nor mental health.
PageOfCups
on
Jul 16, 2016
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The biggest pro about making friends online as I see it, is the excessive amount of people online. You are sure to find at least one person who matches your interests, and it is often a lot easier to approach these persons if you are shy by nature in the real world.
One of the biggest cons of an online friendship however is the uncertainty that comes along with it. People are known to be deceptive online and some carry malicious intent. You have to keep your guard up and follow safe internet behavior, which is not always easy, if the counterpart is very charismatic.
Furthermore compared to a person you meet in real life, your online friend is able to disappear without a trace over night. It is even easy for them, as for the better or worse, you and your friend carry no actual responsibilities toward each other, Getting too attached to an online friend might leave you disappointed.
TheaLovegood
on
Nov 18, 2016
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I've had several dear online friends for years now, and these are my personal conclusions.
Pros: They are friends. The fact that they live far away from you doesn't change your feelings, nor theirs, if you grew close. I have a close online friend who I started talking to back in 2011. I was very depressed back then, and I didn't have too many real life friends. Then I met Derek, who lives all the way in Northern Ireland, and as it turned out, he was also depressed. But he had that never dying sense of humor which I needed, as I soon realised. The way he'd make things sound funny, and his wit would make my day much better and lighter, despite daily anxiety and stress. And I had the kind of interests and topics I liked talking about that made his days better, despite a family tragedy and health problems. I didn't even have Skype, nor a good PC. Just a phone and messages, and we messaged each other every day. Message by message, and he got to know me better than my family, and one or two friends I had at the time. And I got to know him. Today, when I think of 2011, that online friend is one of the brightest memories about that year, not just because not many pretty things happened at the time, but because meeting him was a great thing, and would remain so even I had twenty great real life friends back then. He'd still remain a great memory, because our friendship was great. And it still is, in 2016. Even if we get to talk once a month, the closeness will always be there. And so will the gratefulness.
My other online friends of who some are quite close to my heart live all over the globe. One lives in Africa, and I am in Europe. Another one lives in Hollad, another one in Germany. Once I had one from India. That's another great thing. I got to get to know a person that I in normal conditions would never meet at all. Thanks to online friendships, I met an African and his way of life, his different ways of living, a brand new world of a person from a completely different continent. Getting to know people who live so differently than you and becoming friends with them is a rich blessing and a rich experience.
Cons: You can become such great friends that the distance becomes a painful thing to remember. You can't be close to them and offer them a hot cup of tea when they need it. Also, the danger of the Internet urges you to be much more careful when trusting someone, so that's something to care about. You only get to see the side of them which they choose to show. But it can happen with real life friends, too. That's one more common trait of both friendships. Online friends are just people whom you haven't hugged yet. :)
Tina167
on
Apr 14, 2018
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The major con would be you never know with whom your are dealing with behind the screen it's difficult to trust peoole online just because you have pure intenstoins for them doesn't mean they have the same for you,if you talk about pros then for a time being it's good to chat with someone to kill the lonliness but again never give away too much personal details
FrufflesDaRat
on
Jul 2, 2016
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I think there are plenty of both, a few pros are they may be easier to talk to, you can watch YouTube together, and many other fun online things. Examples of cons would be not being able to give real hugs, you can't do things like swimming or shopping together, and even connecting with what seems to be some text on a screen may be hard for some. Overall I think the pros outweigh the cons!
Ky23
on
Mar 22, 2018
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Pros:
- Easy to start a conversation, less pressure when the conversation isn't taking place face-to-face
- Less commitment
- Greater chance of meeting someone who doesn't look like you, sound like you, or share the same experiences
- Easy/fun way to spend your time (just as long as it isn't 24/7)
- May be able to confide in this person more easily than someone in real life (it's easier to share secrets/tough moments through text or phone call).
Cons:
- Can be dangerous, you never truly know who you are talking to online (it's easy to use someone else's photos, lie about details, or even act a completely different way from your own self)
- Often, someone you meet online won't be right next door, so it's long distance (which can also be a pro!)
- Might find yourself remaining online or on your phone for way too much time
- Social isolation, you may limit interacting or reaching out to others you run into in real life
- Perhaps disapproval from parents (who are very aware of online dangers)
KatMae
on
Jul 8, 2016
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Hey there! I think the internet is a great place to make friends, but just remember to be safe and cautious as it can be dangerous as well. The pros of internet friends would be the fact that you are getting the chance to know this person really well before seeing them or their looks. It stops people from being judgemental about looks and discriminating. The cons of having an internet friend would be not physically having them here with you to hug and go hang out with. I hope this somewhat helps you out :) If anyone would like to have a continued discussion about this topic, feel free to message me.
Grimegg
on
Jul 11, 2016
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Its no secret that people online open up freely to strangers. Its easier to open up to someone when you cannot see them. You do not feel direct intimidation and your mind creates its own image of how a person looks or talks depending on their chat conversation. The obvious bad part is clearly that you cannot be sure who exactly is behind the that screen, and I also personally believe that body language is extremely important sometimes.
keera4299
on
Nov 9, 2016
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The pros of making friends online is they can only know about you as much as you tell them. The con to making online friends is you don't know if they are truly who they say they are.
Pegasus80
on
Jul 13, 2016
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One of the pros of making friends online is that you have someone to talk to. Sometimes it's easier to have an online friend to talk to about things that maybe you don't want to discuss with people who are close to you in real life. You also get a different perspective of things when you only know them online.
One con would be not having the ability to hang out with them. You might share some common interests and be unable to share them together.
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