Pros and Cons of Making Online Friendships

*PROS AND CONS OF MAKING ONLINE FRIENDSHIPS*

CONS:

- Lack of Physical Connection - One Obvious drawback is how people miss out on connecting on a physical level. For me, most of my connections started on snap, instagram, or tiktok and a few others. People generally start off by messaging others in a public or private chat. I could see them on FaceTime, but I couldn't really see them in real life, nor could they see me. With online friendships, it's easy to unintentionally present ourselves as "better" than we are. The way we move and walk, the way we laugh, the way we look and any little quirk we have is missing from our convos;

- People Would Ghost You - From time to time, my online friends will suddenly disappear. As easy as it is to make friends on the web, it's also easy for you to leave them, and for them to leave you. Although physical contact isn’t established, people can separate their online messages from actual, real people. It’s easier to disregard the self-esteem of people who are semi-anonymous, by leaving them suddenly, than it would be in person.

- Internet Addiction - One of the most prominent negative consequences I found making friends online is how easily an internet connection and turn into an internet addiction. Online, we can have constant connections to people who live miles away from us. We can talk to people from France, Texas, Australia and anywhere else in between. This enormous network of resources is often intimidating, and sometimes addictive.

PROS:

- Vulnerability - On the other hand, the internet gives us a chance to put aside how we look, how we sound and the insecurities we might worry about when conversing in person. We can meet a wide range of great people.

- Acces to thought diversity - the internet gave me access to the rest of the world. I’ve had many conversations about politics, philosophical ideals like freedom and anarchy, the definition of love and the list goes on. With each of these topics, I’ve toyed with different perspectives. Each person has their own view of life, and I’ve found that each person is eager to share their worldview with me. I think we all genuinely want to be understood, and the internet gives us a platform to truly be ourselves.

Feel Free to add anymore pros and cons -- these are the ones I could come up with, or popped up into my head --