Online Friends

I find comfort in having online friends. Sure, I am missing the personal interaction that comes with friends from school, but sometimes online friends are the ones who I can talk to about anything. Maybe they’re judging me or maybe they don’t care. I just need someone from the outside to listen. Sometimes they’re the ones who give out the best advice because they’re unbiased. Okay, they may be a little bit biased because they’re only hearing my side of the story. However, what I like about online friends is they don’t know your past. They don’t know who you are in the public eye. You are a blank canvas to them. And based on how you interact with them, you can paint a picture of who you really want to be.

I guess I’m so used to having online friends because I’m an only child. I don’t have a sibling I can turn to when things get rough. But I do have friends. In fact, I have tons of friends, but I’m not usually the type to initiate anything. And then there are times where I want to stay home alone while everyone else wants to go out, or vice versa. Well, actually, now that I look back, I’ve always been the type of child to stay inside her room and write or watch anime instead of playing with the kids in my neighborhood. I’m definitely an introvert. I guess that’s where my interest in online friends stemmed from. I wrote stories online and published them. There were plenty of people who read and left comments, and I would reply back. It was such a good feeling to know that people are reading and enjoying my stories. A few times, we would message each other and share common interests – interests that other people in my school probably would not understand. This habit of interacting with online people continued on even until high school. The majority of them drifted away. In fact, I’m only keeping in contact with one online friend. She’s pretty cool and I go to her when I need outside advice.

When it comes down to choosing who I’d spend my time with, I, of course, would pick the people around me. In no way would I have online friends replace my friends in real life. It’s just nice to have them because you know they’re also there for you when you need help, and they’re also there with you when you need to fangirl about something. So, to all the online friends I’ve made in the past, even though we haven’t met in real life, being able to talk to you and share interesting stories definitely got me through the days, weeks, and months that have passed when I spoke to you. Whoever you are, what you become or where you come from, I appreciate you.