Is online friendship inferior to real life friendship

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Personally, I would say they are equal in value though they are different. The Internet has the benefit of not having to deal with body language a lot while you still can't go out to have a cup of coffee, see a movie or borrow things. Real life friendships are the reverse of that, though I guess having a real life friend on the autistic spectrum would give one the best of both worlds. That's probably why my two closest friends are both aspies. However, when it comes to neurotypical friends I don't see how real life is superior to the online. Does anyone share this opinion or do you beg to differ?

The whole past several years of my life has consisted of being online because of other issues peaking or getting out of hand. I originally started when I was 12, I'm 19 almost 20 now and I've made some of the best friends of my life. Australia, Germany, they're all over. More so than I can say for real life friends that I've had (there are exceptions).

IMO, it's easier on the internet because of what you just said about body language and other complications. No need to be self-conscious (at least not me), don't have to worry about looking stupid, etc. A lot less worries and such to deal with.

That being said, online friendships can also lack in certain areas or aspects like getting a cup of coffee or borrowing things, they can also be the best thing ever when you're stuck inside during a dark period of your life and they're there for you. I have friends online, ones that aren't by FAR neurotypical, as well as ones that are neurotypical but are still very unique and don't fit into the average crowd.

So yeah, they pretty much are equal but are both different and can be a great alternative or a first step.

Well, I don't really have any rl friends. I have kept myself pretty isolated. I do have some online friends. It's not that I'm not friendly or nice. I just have a hard time maintaining friends.

My online world is different however and I can make a friend in a heartbeat and keep them for a good length of time. I don't know. I don't think it's inferior or superior. It's just different and there is nothing wrong with different. But, with voice becoming more and more popular on the internet, I'm finding myself acting the way I do in rl over the internet and it kind of sucks.

not really

In the Year Two Thousa~nd!
In the Year Two Thousa~nd!

The internet will have been established as real, after a generation was raised to adulthood in it.

To me, friendship is friendship.

Friendship is friendship, whether it's face to face, or on the Internet.

They are not innately inferior, not any worse than real life, I've just been mad in the past at the way people I've met online seem to have treated online friendship as inferior to real life.

I don't think they're inferior, especially considering an online community like this - it seems even more special that I'm making friends with people who are all over the world. We are completely negating differences of nationality, distance, etc. It's really special to know that someone (who may not be very social otherwise) in a small town in say, Germany, can find sympathy with someone in Australia.

I really feel like I've found people who think like me and who I can talk with about all sorts of things.

All that said, it is easier to walk away from online relationships if one has maintained anonymity - and where that might make it seem less substantial, it is, IMO a plus.

I do like online friends but they are somewhat inferior to real life friendships. I don't value them as much, if I make an online friend I wouldn't mind if we lost contact but I like to hold on the real like friends because they are important. I'd rather have a few close real life friends than a load of online meaningless friendships.

How about a few close online friends and a load of offline meaningless friendships?

Hhhmmm that's a hard one. There are pros and cons to both sides. A few close online friends is good because well, they're close but at the same time I wouldn't see them so I'd be alone at home talking to them. With the offline meaningless friendships the pros are that atleast I'd still have a social life and people to meet even if I aren't particularly close to them but the cons of that would be that they aren't good friends and it wouldn't make a difference to both parties if we all seperate.
I'm going to choose online close friends because I can meet them in real life and turn them into offline close friends providing that they live close to me.

I battle with myself over this aspect of social communications every day of my life.
Personally, I have many friends that I have met over the internet, from other parts of the world, or at the least, other parts of Australia. Whenever I'm online I enjoy myself fully, always having at least one of my American friends, etc., to talk to, but logging off is the hardest part because I find myself struggling with making friends IRL. I have a group of friends but they have yet to invite me on a social outing. Hopefully soon!!

Anyways, I have been contemplating something lately that I hope will help you: on your social networking sites, start conversations with people that you know are living in your general area, then when you find that you get along with him/her, invite them to meet you! Being a fellow Aspie, I know how much easier it is making a friend online, so if you start with the computer and progress later with an IRL encounter things should work out! Good luck.

Good point.

My real life friendships start off online. I met most of my good friends in various music forums and talked the them most online, because we're all spread in different areas of the country. A couple are overseas.

I don't think they're inferior. They're still real people. You just can't see them or hear them.

I rather spend hours talking online than hours talking face to face, because I get bored/tired of the latter and want to get away.

Im gonna say, that online friends lack certain parts of friendship, mainly the ability to share experiences, that make them slightly inferior