The Drawbacks of Online Friendships

The trouble with online friendships is their transient nature. When you’re bored and lonely, it’s easy to look for someone you can make a brief connection with in a chat room or on a social networking site, as it passes the time. However, even if you exchange email addresses or become Skype buddies, there is no guarantee you will ‘talk’ again. You just don’t have the same bond as you do with the individuals you encounter in your everyday life – out of sight, out of mind as they say. In real life, you encounter people and you build a bond with them that is harder to break.

That is not to say there is no value in online friendships, but you have to be prepared to put the time and energy into getting to know someone and just because you email regularly and try to keep in contact, your online ‘friend’ may not be quite as committed. It’s frustrating, because usually all you have is their email address, and you can’t keep inundating them with messages until you get a response, because if they don’t want to write back, they won’t. Of course, real-life friends can ignore you, too, but it tends to be a lot more difficult when you’re standing face-to-face and you’re usually given some kind of explanation.

Friends tend to be people you can rely on in a crisis; people who will help you out and support you when things go wrong, but with online friends, you don’t get the same kind of immediacy. You may send an email, but you don’t know when you’re going to get a response. There is also the possibility that your online friend is stringing you along and is not really who he or she claims to be. You could find yourself revealing all sorts of personal details, only to discover that you’re being used for some reason. Your ‘friend’ may end up trying to use the information you’ve provided against you, blackmailing you or trying to hack into any online accounts you may have.

There is always an element of risk when trying to build up any kind of friendship, though. Even when you think you know someone in person, they could quite easily be holding something back or lying about themselves. However, being online makes it much easier for individuals to get away with such behaviour, as individuals can hide behind their online personae. Although it is possible to build long-lasting online friendships, for most people the novelty soon wears off and after a few weeks or months of corresponding, the level of interaction tails off.

The Drawbacks of Looking for Love Online

More and more people have been turning to the Internet in their quest to find love, and who can blame them? Online dating seems like a convenient way to meet people, since you don't have to go bar-hopping and you can establish that you have something in common with someone before actually meeting them. It's a great way to find someone new to interact with if you work long hours and don't have much of a social life. However, there are no guarantees that you're actually going to find love online and, indeed, you may simply find that it is more hassle than it's worth.

After all, you could make a connection with someone only to meet up and find that there is no spark there. Even worse than that; you could discover that the person you thought you were meeting actually lied to you. It's easy to do when creating a profile. You obviously want to appeal to members of the opposite sex and so you exaggerate a little bit here and make up a few things things there and before you know it your profile in no way resembles the truth. If the person you are going on a date with does this, you could find yourself coming away feeling rather disappointed.

You can find yourself pinning all your hopes on finding love online and you forget that it is possible to meet people in real life, too! You might think that it is a hassle to look for a partner in your everyday life, but you never know what's around the corner. You may be doing what you always do, only for something unexpected to happen and for you to meet someone you really connect with. You don't get the same level of spontaneity and excitement with online interactions and even when there does appear to be something worth pursuing, you may discover that there isn't when you meet in person.

There are lots more online dating sites than there used to be, but this means that it can take a lot of time to decide on the right site for you. Even then, you may discover that the site is full of people that you're not interested in and that you keep being sent lots of messages from individuals who you have no intention of replying to. Your inbox may end up full of spam and you will probably wonder what the point of being a member of a dating site is, especially if you have to pay for the privilege.

You might start out thinking that online dating is the most convenient way to go to find love, but you could soon discover that it's just as time-consuming and still as difficult to find someone who actually wants a relationship online as it is in real life. There are plenty of people who will tell you what you want to hear in order to get a date, only to let you down in one way or another. However, online dating isn't all bad, and many couples have found each other by using the Internet, which is why this method of looking for love has obviously become so popular.