(Virtual) Friends will be (virtual) friends?

In the 21st century the internet has increasingly become a social medium - a new way of meeting people and making new friends. Social networks, utilities and virtual friend books allow people to share their daily lives not only with those they already are familiar with but also with people they do not know or might never have seen before.

We have witnessed people finding partners and old friends re-uniting. Unfortunately, at the same time we have started to learn about the negative aspects of the social side of the internet. It has become obvious that the internet, being such an anonymous place to act, is lacking in security, laws and even in some kind of universal rules. In the internet one can be whatever one wishes. First it was a blessing, afterwards it became a threat? Has the new means of meeting people turned into a scary place where no one can be trusted? Like many times before, the main concern are children and young people, due to their lack of experience and their naive way of thinking.

Still, at this very moment, millions of people are chatting, e-mailing, using messenger, IRC, social utilities and other ways of communication. Virtual friends are here to stay. In my article I am going to discuss virtual friendship and people's opinions on meeting such friends made in the internet in real life. The article will be divided in following sections: 1. The use of the internet and its social side 2. How does the internet affect relationships 3. Meeting new people - the trust in the internet.

Is a virtual friend as good as a 'real' friend? How do the respondents feel about the trust-issues in the internet - is age related to maybe naivety or cynicism? How big a role do virtual friends play in the respondents' lives? Do the respondents consider the internet a place to make new friends, even to meet a partner? It will be interesting to see how many of the respondents (and by what age?) have really met their net-friends face to face. After all, virtual friendship is based on trust and the virtual friends' trustworthiness - just like in IRL (=in real life) friendships.

FM Pauliina Tuomi
University of Turku