by Marcy Burlock

Created on: May 20, 2009   Last Updated: May 21, 2009

The age old question of what makes a friend weighs more on the mind now than at any other time in history. During this difficult economic time when we are spending less and going out less, we tend to rely more on the people we know. Family and friends usually top this list as they are the ones who are around the most.

Friends you have known for years, going back into childhood or our teen years can be a treasure; as they know all our secrets and embarrassing moments of youth. Spending hours talking over coffee or favourite tv shows and sports games are supposed to be what life is all about right? Well true, friends in the flesh are terrific, but as we age we tend to not have the same time we used to. We have our own families, with kids sprouting up and needing attention. With new technologies we are spending more and more time on our computers.

It usually starts as working online or telecommuting, so we are on our computers for hours at a time anyway. Some meet people in chatrooms, games sites and other social networking sites; made all the more easy with simple interfaces and sign up.

But are the people we are meeting online whom we consider 'friends' truly, real friends? Well let's go back in history a bit to a time when we used to write letters to each other. Calling them pen pals, we used to write long and colourful letters to 'friends' we may never meet in other countries. Telling them about our day, our latest interest and our countries. Many pen pals spent years writing to each other and some lucky ones did meet in person.

What is a friend? It's someone we can talk to about anything; including our own family. Someone who will be there no matter what, in good times and bad. Someone who truly cares about you and your welfare. Friends take you out for birthdays, special occasions and just because they love you. They want to visit when you are sick or down and they want to be with you when the greatest things in your life occur.

Granted most online friends may never meet each other, does this not hold true for them as well? Don't we talk to our online friends about everything? They know our names, our birthdays, our families and our interests. They are there when we need them through hard times and they are there in good ones. We share pictures of each other and even send gifts.

Should we really only class people we know in person as friends? Is there not a chance we might ever meet an Internet friend? Now of course you have to be careful about who you are talking to, as you can be anyone online. If you are certain this person is representing themselves in an honest and straightforward way, then I see no reason why not to consider them a friend.

Yes Internet friends are real friends too, and sometimes even more so than in the flesh ones can be.

Learn more about this author, Marcy Burlock.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.