by Kyra Lennon

Created on: June 29, 2010   Last Updated: July 29, 2010

My online friends mean the world to me. Strange as it sounds to consider people you've never met to be your friends, mine feel like they are a part of me. I can't fully pinpoint when I made my first online friend or who it was, but I was spending time on a Harry Potter forum and before I knew what had happened, I had a whole bunch of new friends in many other countries.

While I don't keep in touch with every single person I've met online, there are a select few who remain very special to me. These are the people who have taken the time to get to know me, and let me get to know them. The ones who have been there for me on bad days and have listened without judgement. It's somehow easier to be open and honest with people you can't see face to face, and if they think you're a freak afterwards, at least there are never any awkward meetings in the street afterwards!

But I digress.

My online friends are scattered in many countries. I now know people in America, Canada, Brazil, the Czech Republic, India, Romania and Belgium as well as some in the UK. I have been very lucky to meet up with some of my online friends and proved that Internet friendships can easily make the transition from the net to real life without problems.

My friends from Brazil came to visit a couple of years ago which only served to make the bonds of our friendship even stronger. It was as if we had known each other forever and ironically, they were the people I had known for the shortest time.

Last year my friend from Romania lived with me for two months, and again, it felt as if we had been friends forever. He was actually staying with me at a rather tough time during my life and having him there made it a lot more bearable.

This year I took a trip to Prague to meet one of my favourite online buddies and it wasn't a disappointment. There were no issues with us not getting along and we hope to meet again as soon as we can afford it.

All of the people I consider to be my online friends have their own unique qualities that make them special, and put together they all make my life better. I only hope I do the same for them.

The foundations of a friendship can be built online just as easily as they can face to face. The only difference is not being able to meet up for a coffee or have the occasional night out together. Overall though, distance doesn't matter. People can still touch your life, even if they are thousands of miles away.

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