(Thank you to Sunshine for changing the title to something that isn't such an ultimatum!)
I never much questioned the belief present in the title, however I have known several who do. Some may say the internet has been around long enough we should be used to having conversations on it and such, and hell, even the same with the phone, yet still some people cling to the belief that "true friendships are formed in person" or some bull like that.
Now however? I am learning that it is not only a belief to believe in, but know is in fact true, at least if you ask me. Friendship can be put to the test in a multitude of fashions and, well, about an hour and a half ago I got up from bed and came down to my computer. Like the human robot I am, I grabbed a fruit drink on the way with some cereal on the way. I hit the power button on my computer, sat down in my chair, loaded up my overkill amount of 40 Google Chrome tabs and the first one, farthest to the left, is Faceebook. I wasn't planning to look much at my news feed however it was the first thing that popped up on Facebook and I noticed something off.
A good friend of mine (now of about 2-3 years) who I had first met in a dungeon run on an alt back in my World of Warcraft days, had posted an oddly long bit of text. At first I noticed how it was someone else posting in her stead, as they mentioned their name off the bat. Then it moved into "I'm very sorry to have to tell you all this" and I was thinking, in my still not fully-awoken state, "is Jessica in the hospital or something?"
I had to read it a good 2 or 3 times, but one of my dearest and best "online" friends, had passed away sometime over Sunday night, from a 'cardiac event,' likely a heart attack. Tears welled up nearly immediately. To avoid going too much into detail and get more back on topic, I suppose, the point of this is, whether you know the person IN REAL LIFE, IRL as most of you all know I am sure, does not matter in how close of friends you can be. Friendship is made through shared experiences, likes, dislikes, possibly beliefs, and so on and so forth. It does not matter whether you can touch this friend or not, who cares? The fact of the matter is you both enjoy spending time doing something together, or talking, or what have you.
This friend of mine started out simply as "that druid tree" in "one of many Blackrock Depths runs" which became Skype conversations, computer-geek talk, me bashing Apple relentlessly and she calming me down and teaching me that you can be a computer builder and still appreciate Apple, amongst many other things. She was in her mid-40s.
I suppose what really helped bring on this whole topic, and what I am more interested to hear from others about, is what do you think when a non-computer/online-type friend, someone who perhaps still doesn't care much for it all, says they think you can't have as good friends online. I used to be friends with a guy who was like this, he felt like me spending so much time back then playing WoW and valuing the friendships I made on it, was foolish. He said playing WoW is fine in itself, but valuing it/the people you meet is more or less bad. I ended up cutting off contact because he was very difficult to talk to, plus college took the kind and very gentle guy he was throughout high school and made him into, what more can I consider, a dick. He became hard to contact because he hated talking on the phone but also despised texting, and would get on Facebook once in a blue moon. This past March he sealed the deal when he visited my college and I introduced him to a couple fellow computer club friends of mine, who were working on some things having to do with coding and physics. The next day he essentially said they seemed overly obsessed with the computers (he met them for about 20 whopping minutes) and said he thinks people who spend a lot of time in front of a computer are essentially a waste. Being a computer nerd who built his own computer and is seeking a degree and certificates in the field towards a career, this was obviously something hard to take.
It's like when you hear the "but there are other PEOPLE playing these characters on my screen"... and the dreaded response "yes whatever." What do you say to that? I hope the mods will understand the point of this thread, I think it is part me getting my thoughts out but also just looking for others who know what it is like.
I can certainly say writing this all out finally cleared my mind up a bit, as they always say, talk/write out your feelings. It damn well works. Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the conclusions I've come to, am I seeing things right or am I biased? I had another friend who, while she's only ever had one really close internet friend, believes they are just as special.
RIP Jess