Can Virtual Bonds Feel This Real?

It's amazing to see how much I have bonded with some friends that I haven't seen physically, doing things together comfortably, helping each other achieve goals, offering emotional support, and even building our spiritual lives together. I can't just exhaust how much I see myself socializing freely with my online friends. The digital age got us this way, and many things take a different shape, including friendship.

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Over the years, I have made a good number of friends, some through crypto groups, some on Hive here, and others through social media. It already looks like we have known each other for decades, yet these are people I connected with through the Internet.

There is a particular friend I made here on Hive amongst many of them that Hive gave me. This person in particular—it still amazes me how much she cares and takes up my burden as if it's hers, yet she hasn't seen me for many years; we started being friends through this space. Should I talk about the emotional support, or the financial assistance, especially during emergency need, or should I talk of how much she checks on me and my family? It's simply amazing. No doubt, that’s one of the beauties of genuine online connections.

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However, there is something unique about physical friendship that online connection may not replace. Face-to-face friendships give you that warm hug, laughter, and some joyful expressions too; all these make physically meeting up make a difference. Take for instance a lady I met online during my real estate business. We communicated so much and did business together virtually, but then came a time when we had real estate events in Lekki, and she came. Trust me, the moment we connected together physically was awesome. The bond grew so well and made the friendship take another great dimension to date, looking so real and wonderful.

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Having said that, online friendship may work better in certain dynamics. For example, some people find it difficult to express themselves very well physically but can do that freely online. One of my online friends once shared something sensitive with me, but the day we met physically for the first time, I was literally forcing words from his mouth. Yet he had some burden but couldn't express himself due to whatever reason best known to him, but all the same, the online space always gave such a person the emotional covering that he or she needed.

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Personally, I value both online and physical friendship and socialize comfortably with people, enjoying the perks both have to offer. But then, I wouldn't say that online friendship can completely replace the need for face-to-face friendship.

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As much as I have gained a lot from friendship online, there are irreplaceable values I get from physical friends. It's all about finding what works for you, *but I love it more when online friendships develop into real-life connections".

This is my response to the #Hive Learners community prompt on the topic titled,ONLINE FRIENDSHIPS.

Images were taken from canva