Friendships are one of the best things to happen to us humans on earth. The friends you make can be a chief determining factor in how your life turns out. And it’s for this reason that many times, it’s emphasized that you sift through your friends carefully, because if you end up with the wrong ones, they’d end up bringing you down or keeping you stuck at a place, instead of helping you become a better version of yourself.
The relationships we have are meant to complement us and make us better individuals. When you meet someone, you’re supposed to be able to help each other grow. However, if you find yourself suddenly moving in a direction you don’t like, doing things you never saw yourself doing, then it’s a sign that you’re rolling with the wrong set of friends and you need an upgrade.
And today, we have two types of friends; the ones we met online and the ones we met physically. In the past, there used to be pen friends. Having friends that you had no idea who they were, all the way in a different country. But the online space has totally replaced that, and now, a person can have dozens or even hundreds of friends without having even met them. You can know everything about them, down to where they live and their home dynamics, without crossing your borders.
And I believe that’s a good thing, because it has opened people to a lot of experiences and opportunities. These relationships have, in one way or the other, helped everyone involved to become better versions of themselves.
So now, can online friendships replace physical ones? Nah… I don’t think that is possible. You can be close to the people you meet online, they can even go on to become your best friends. But the truth is, if you feel that good about them, you’d always want to meet them in person. You’d look forward to the day when there will be enough time and resources to permit you both to meet. Just claiming best friends without hoping to one day see each other will not cut it. At all.
And the beauty of physical friendships is that they bring it way closer to home, and you’re able to make more informed decisions. When you study the supposed friends, their expressions and mannerisms, how they carry themselves, and the things they value. You’d know for a fact if that is the kind of friend you’re looking to have. When it’s online, you only have the information that they give to you. Anything beyond your screen is anyone’s guess. You can’t know for sure if they’re lying about themselves, or if they’re catfishing you. You just have to take them at their word.
This doesn’t mean that physical friendships don’t have their own problems, they sure do. But you have a higher chance of figuring out those problems in time when it’s physical than you will when it’s online. And this is not me speaking against cultivating online friendships, I have a lot of friendships online, people I’m close to that I’ve never met, and I hope to one day meet. So yeah, I know the value of these online connections. It’s just that while we’re doing it, let’s be careful and smart.
