relationships initiated or conducted primarily through means of communication other than face to face conversation are as valid as relationships initiated or conducted primarily through face to face conversation. perhaps you do not engage emotionally with individuals with whom you converse on the internets, but that does not mean other people also do not engage!
or, let me see, here is another way to put it:
i am a person! i am a person writing this post right now. maybe you’ll read this post and then forget about it, but the fact remains that it is a post that a person (me) wrote! it is about something that person (me) cares about! something they care about so much that they want to talk about it!
the internet isn’t a void. it’s a medium, a venue in and through which people can communicate either directly or indirectly, same as handwritten letters or phone calls or talking with someone in person. words are words and feelings are feelings and communication is still communication.
friendships forged on-line are friendships. they’re valid. they’re real. and the reason they’re real is because the people in them are real. they care. they do. they’re communicating with other people. that’s real!
I met my (now) boyfriend on the internet. We had feelings for each other before we even met in real life. And when we did meet, my life went from being something I loathed with the passion of a million fiery suns, to being something I wouldn’t change or give up for anything in this world. It doesn’t make our relationship any different from the next person’s. We’re real people, with real feelings, and we just happened to fall in love before we could even hold hands.
(via probender)
Source: formerlyroxy
