Are online friends really your friends?

All of the friends I roll with on a regular basis I have known for years. Hell, with the majority of them I even know their families pretty well. I've even been to a few of their homes when I was in their particular part of the country. After playing MMOs and shooting the breeze with them for seven years or more, you tend to get to know them. So yeah, I'd consider my online friends, traditional friends in their own rights.

ONline friends are good because most of the time we are talking to them as people and not taking into account any sort of prejudices. Some of my closest friends i have met on the net.

I wouldn't call them friends, they're more like acquaintances. I have issues with people in general, so whether I know them online or IRL, its rare that I'd consider anyone a friend.

I'd call considering someone your online friend would be quite a gamble.No matter how long you know him.
The way i see things every case is different.

[color=green]It's really hard to tell d00d, I mean, I could be a serial killer or sum shit like that. Normally I don't give any info about me but FUCK I've come to trust this site so much that I've given everything about me so meh, if I die, I deserve it u_u[/color]

Could just be my situation, but now that I'm my age and pretty confident in myself i just dont have much fear in the online predator stuff. I suppose there is always a chance a killer could look for me.. but I dont think its any more likely on the net then someone you meet in Realife. Plus you only live one so somtimes you gotta just go ham. That being said I am closer to my online friends. The one benefit they have is they are never involved in whats going on in my life (thinking bad things) so i can tell them without worry about it and I can usually get unbiased opinions.

Not all of them, sure they may be gaming buddies, but seeing as how I usually end up with long periods without any communication between them it hardly ever develops into a friendship. At one point here on fakku though I used to frequent the Virgin's club and there peeps there were truly fun to see and socialize with on a daily basis. In the end though, I wonder if they would ever really do a favor for me if I asked as a sign of trust, but that's too rare on the internet I think, least til you meet them in person.

A few of the ones I've talked to since back in the day, of course not everyone though. But it's pretty bad that some reason I'm shy even over the internet (>_<)

Thats not a yes or no question it really depends on the situation. Did you meet them in real life and move away or just online, how often do you talk,do they actually know what type of person you are or things friends actually know about you. And how much do you like each other. It all depends on you and that person.

Some of my closest friends that I know now (in real life) were initially only online friends. I have known one for 11+ years and we met shortly after 3-4 years of interacting online on a daily fashion.

There are people online I consider 'closer' to me than friends in my life.
There are a couple of people I've talked to pretty much every single day for over 5 years; these people, whether or not they are online are my friends.

The bond we share is a different kind of bond. We can tell each-other anything knowing that we can be serious or bring a little humor to the situation. I could say that the simple answer to this question is yes; however in my opinion there is no simple answer.

This is a little silly, and the poll needs a "depends" option, since that's the real answer.

As I'm sure someone must have mentioned by now, long distance friendships have been around for ages, long before the internet was even a thought. The term "Pen Pal" was created from such an activity. The internet has made the idea of the "Pen Pal" realized to its fullest potential (well, almost. If there was a perfect translating machine THEN it would be to its fullest).

Long story short, a friend is someone who is there for you to relax with, someone reliable, and someone who gets you. Even if you don't know what they look like, if they are there to that degree, they're your Pen Pal. I've got a buddy in the military, and we only ever met up before via E3.

So, it depends. How much do you two care about each other? Can you be yourself around your Pen Buddy?

Having a long distance friendship is absolutely doable, and fine.
Having a long distance relationship is criminally retarded, but that's just experience talking.

somehow i'll say yes...
i think it's because online friends can usually give me some good advice than my real-life friends, it's obvious because they are older and wiser. but, real-life friends also can give you more supports to you when you're feeling down. i would prefer my real-life friends because we're having a real interaction.

There are people who I met online that I feel closer to than anyone else. For those specific people I know they really are my best friends. Its hard to say in general, but that applies to both online and offline.

I have a select few that I'd consider good friends, the rest are just acquaintances to me. I still keep in touch with friends I met on a forum 10-11 years ago (thank you, social networking!), I'd occasionally make long distance calls or send gifts for birthdays. ^^

I must say all my friends call me "a homo little no life noob" or "a gay faggot" so they must be the best friends I ever had. (they only call me that after I kick there ass in Call of Duty, GoW, Killzone, etc.)

The short answer is: It depends. I've known some people online for a decade, and am comfortable telling them things I wouldn't to meatspace friends. That being said, there's a familiarity you get with regular, face-to-face contact that online message board chats can't convey.

I play with friends from highschool but they're not online as much as they were back then so now i play with friends of friends.