Virtual Friends – What do you mean they are not real?

Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:

I have seen quite a bit recently about the ethereal nature of connections formed on social media that are called ‘friendships’.  Some say that they cannot be classified as friendships because you have never met, you don’t know if the person you are communicating with is really who they say they are, and that it can prevent you from forming healthier, real bonds with people offline.

My feeling is that our definition of friendship changes as we get older. As an adult, I too would  be concerned that a child or young adult relies solely on Facebook or other social media sites to develop long term friendships.  Certainly in Japan there are real concerns that young men are forming cyber relationships instead of human interactions.  The population is now top heavy with the elderly with very much fewer babies being born.  Young men are relying on their computer for all…

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