Online friends. It’s a tricky one… only knowing someone through your mobile screen (or sometimes computer) and interacting with emoji’s, likes and story polls. I have seen a lot of blogposts about online friendships, about their genuinity, about their longevity, about whether they are ‘real’ or not.
Well I want to add something to the mix. I want to say how utterly grateful I am for my online friends.
Why is it that whenever you tell you mum a story about your friend she always wants to know name, date of birth, where they grew up and their mother’s maiden name. Well I cannot tell you the amount of times I start a story:
‘so a friend of mine….’
‘who?’
‘Maisy’
‘Who’s Maisy?’
‘Oh she’s my Instagram friend….’
Having online friends is such a blessing for me, as someone who lives with anxiety it allows me to access the outside world, access other humans and have real conversations without having to leave my room, get out of my pjs or brush my hair. It allows me to talk about things that I really care about, things that set my soul on fire, without feeling like I am being judged or boring someone.
Because I’ll tell you now, no matter how much my family loves me, they definitely tire of my conversations about regrams, hashtags and social trends.
So many people are so cautious of online friends. They worry that ‘just because you met someone online’ it means that the friendship isn’t as real, or as deep.
But I can tell you now that some of my closest friends have come through a friendly DM, an Instagram follow or even a retweet.
If you are ever unsure about whether to send that first message, reach out and ask to go for coffee or even tell them how much you love their stuff, let me tell you now- do it. You never know what friendship could blossom from it.
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Photography- Ami Ford Photo
