BY ARTI DAS | NT NETWORK

It is that time of the year again when your email and mobile phone inboxes will be flooded with Friendship Day messages portraying cute thoughts of being friends forever.

Yes, nowadays, with technological advancement, these mediums have become a new breeding ground for finding and making friends. The emergence of social networking sites has made the work easier.

Now you can get all the information about a person, right from his/her birthday to what he/she likes and dislikes, even before that person becomes a friend.

The emergence of ‘online friends’ has made friendship so convenient and one can make friends with people hundreds and thousands of miles away and yet virtually so close and personal.

But, can this new generation of ‘net pals’ replace traditional or ‘real’ friends and friendship? There are two opinions to it and both are right in their own way.

Like Mr Mukund Narvekar puts it, “Well, there are two sides to it. I think we have to focus on the positive aspects of friendship because when it comes to friendship as a pure relation we do it with our heart and not mind. So, even if it’s an online friend it sometime helps a lot. Also our busy lives leave us with little or no time to build friendships and it is here that online friendships come to rescue. At least there is someone to share your thoughts with, even if it is virtually.”

Interestingly, many believe that sometimes it is much easier to share your thoughts with a stranger “It’s strange that you happen to feel freer in sharing feelings with strangers,” states Niyati Patre from Mapusa. But, she cautions that one needs to be very careful with online friends. She adds that it is like a dream world where the real and make believe merge seamlessly.

Whereas Pooja Lawande, Calangute terms it as a powerful personal and social phenomenon.  “Internet has become such an important part of our lives that one can’t think of life without internet or a social networking site to be precise. We meet a lot of people over the internet and connect with some instantly. I don’t believe that internet friends can replace “offline friends” but some of them do occupy an equivalent space in our life. I am not a very social person but being ‘online’ gives me an opportunity to let my ideas flow and connect with different people, I can just be myself. Internet friendships are as real as it get. They know things about me and aspects of my personality I don’t freely reveal to people in my normal world. There have been times when I've been in crisis and surprisingly I turned towards internet friends and wasn’t let down once.”

She further adds that they could be real friends in its true sense. “The anonymity of the Internet allows people the freedom to share intimate details of their lives without the fear of judgment or rejection they would feel elsewhere,” maintains Lawande.

Also many feel that there is no baggage involved with online friends.  There is no room for making any judgments based on physical appearance, clothes, size, style, odour, etc.

But, again there are some for whom these attributes do count.

Says Neenad, “I don’t really like making online friends cause I am a touch and feel person. I like to see and experience the emotions in the person with whom I am friends with as it is more comfortable for me.”

For others it is very important to know how that person reacts to a particular situation, which is not possible with online friends. “In a virtual world everyone tries to impress the other person. You really don’t know how they are reacting or what their true reactions is when you say something. Also in some cases one doesn’t know their actual name,” says Jessica Fernandes, Nuvem.

However, she adds that sometimes they do fill the gap when real friends are not around. “Also I feel that one should have online friends, but one should not get too involved. Sometimes they can be very informative, especially if they are from different a state or country.”

Even though online friendships are received with mixed emotions it is here to stay. It can never replace your real or childhood friends, but they will be there for you, as they are just one click away!