The Rise Of The Internet Friend

Internet friends have become increasingly popular over the past few years and according to LiveScience.com “Nearly a third of teenage girls have met people offline after becoming online friends.” However, does this pose a problem for the safety of children? Will it completely replace face to face interaction?

Due to the advancement in technology it has been made easier for digitally active consumers to communicate and interact with people from all over the world. Through using a plethora of social media platforms, such as Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, people can privately inbox others who share similar interests or who they would like to get to know further.

After the creation of the ‘fandom’, teenage girls specifically – often described as ‘fan girls’ – have reached out to others who are interested in the same music artist or actor as them. An 18 year old girl from Manchester explained to me how she met her internet friend when she was added to a direct message group chat because of her fan account. She stated that ” it was just mutual likers and people with a similar amount of followers who got added just randomly, like as a way to make new friends”.

On the other hand there is also a more serious reason why people form relationships online. For many, social media acts as a journal in which they can express how they feel, whether it be good or bad. In a way, it may seem easier to talk behind a screen because what they want to say may be difficult to do so in person. The danger of this is that if someone needs help, they are likely to refuse it as they may either feel content with how they display their emotions online or they may go through life wearing a metaphorical mask, meaning that no one, who knows them personally, knows how they truly feel.

However, social media is not the only place where one can make friends. Thanks to online gaming such as X Box Live, people can play with gamers from all over the world. Unlike social media, once you quit a game you leave that particular virtual community, meaning that it is difficult to contact the fellow gamer after. Nevertheless, there is still that sense of personal interaction via both platforms.

Moreover, according to the Uses & Gratifications Theory, proposed by Blumler  and Katz, one consumes media to satisfy their needs for personal relationships. Therefore, it is only right that teens are almost substituting media for emotional interaction.

Furthermore, there are a few dangers with these platforms. The first is that prosumers risk completely disregarding their real life, which could result in them losing their communication skills. The second is that meeting one’s internet friend can pose a serious danger to one’s safety as one can never be certain on their true identity.

Many adults are quick to dismiss teens’s attempts to make internet friends, but they are blindly forgetting that a few of the them have done a similar thing. Essentially, dating websites are the same as forming friendships online. Both, result in a personal relationship after having connected virtually and because of similar interests. Therefore, it is fair to say that adults are fairly ignorant when it comes to their views on this certain subject. Maybe it is because they do not fully understand the important role that the internet plays in the lives of youngsters.

Despite the controversial adult feelings, a huge amount of teens have and are taking advantage of web 2.0. At the end of the day, they are digital natives who grew up using the internet; therefore, it’s only inevitable that they make friends online.  Who knows, in the future one may purely make friends online.

Words by Gemma Hughes