Thoughts: we as a society have entered a digital age where much of what LC says is true. Our online counterparts are often closer to us than our actual physical acquaintances, through depth of contact. For example, if a person reveals a secret about himself to a friend in "reality", that secret may or may not register, it may or may not stick in the memory, and it may or may not become important based on the attention level of the listener. However, online=permanent, in that a secret revealed is studied, read, and considered at length by the person who receives it. Conclusions are formed, and reenforced.
We have friends we speak to via phone, text, facebook, internet, videogame console, skype, and over the back fence. But when we have something of import to share, which of those groups do we notify first?
I think that although this discussion has come up many times before, the nature of friendship itself is rapidly changing and therefore so do the definitions of what is "real life relationship."
I personally still prefer either a name or a face to attach to a person in order to make it "real" for me, maybe because of my experience with these trollboards. But I find in reflecting on just the examples from here that it no longer has to be both. For example, I have relationships fostered just at TK which have become more genuine and have lasted multiple years, and yet involve persons I'd never be able to pick out in a crowd. Other relationships I've had here were directly affected by the introduction of a picture, a face, or PI of some sort that entirely changed the way I felt about and interacted with that person. Conversely, there are one or two entities I've interacted with for many years who have provided supposed real world info etc, and yet my relationship with them is not genuine based on my doubt that they may be a dual or fake account. My interaction with them is much different.
So can a relationship, good or bad, become genuine if it only exists without any real world info at all? Yes. Does real world info affect the nature of a relationship? Also yes.
I'll add more later. I just wanted to give my initial thought on the topic.
