I try to remember times before my love of the internet. I was in my early 20’s. Friends were never a problem. Whether getting friends, keeping friends, hanging with friends, chatting with friends, or being friends, it was easy. It was before my adult life took over.
You get married, have children, and get older. You keep some friends and you tend to lose a lot more it seems. Sometimes it’s due to no longer having anything in common, and as for others, it’s merely a time issue.
Now that I am well into my thirties, I find it hard to have a lot of “tangible” real world friends. I salute the people I know, that get to go and party like it’s 1999 with their friends on a regular basis. I for some reason no longer do. I know even my husband has this issue. Work, family life, house and yard upkeep, and exhaustion..just sucks up your time so often.
I feel making new friends is easier for women than men. I recently watched a movie called “I Love You Man” with Paul Rudd. I feel for men after seeing that movie. I guess I never thought about how hard it is for a man to make new friends in the adult world, if you can not make them in your work environment. I can strike up a conversation with a woman in the grocery or the library, but will we end up grabbing a latte or really calling each other? More than likely not. I have however met women and exchanged Twitter handles. There we stay in touch. I guess men could do that too, it would seem less intimate.
So I call these women (and men) that I have met in many different ways that I converse basically via a social media proxy my “Social Media Friends”. On my Facebook account most of my friends are old high school friends and acquaintances, a few tangible friends, old coworker friends, family, and very few strangers. This is because I have pictures of my daughter and more personal information on there. On my MySpace account, which I admit I do not really use very much, it’s mostly the same as facebook but there are a few people I met through myspace. Now my Twitter account is anyone who wants to chat with me and they are not some spammer I happily include them into my circle of my friends.
I find that because I am more than likely on the internet at least once a day every day, my social media friends are more informed about my day to day life than the friends who do not use social media. I find that my social media friends sometimes care more or maybe just have more time to care. They ask on daily basis how things might be going. They share more. They give pep talks to each other. They give advice more. They give well wishes for you to get better. They comment on pictures. I love my Social Media friends.
Do I feel they they are better than my tanglible friends? In some aspects, maybe, but I will never replace them ever because nothing can replace a hug when needed. Maybe I finally hook up with them for dinner and we laugh until it’s way to late into the night. When I have had family die they are there to hold my hand. When I give birth they are taking pictures. They are tangible “Aunties” to my daughter since I have no siblings.
My Social Media Friends fill in the holes in my life, making it more complete. I barely remember my life without them, and I glad they are here. Thank you to all my friends…whether on the web or in life…
