Digital Friendships: Are We Truly Connected or Just Online?

In today's time, where phones and the internet have become everything to us, even friendships have begun to become digital. In the past, friendships were often formed in school or with our neighbors' children. However, in today's digital age, with WhatsApp chats, Instagram, and numerous online apps, where you can befriend each other and talk to someone even at 2:00 in the night, has this really become a great way to connect? Or is it just a huge blender for us? Is the person in front of you right or wrong for you? These are all things that are open to doubt, and you'll only know when you meet them. But in today's time, digital friendships have become a big thing, and almost one in two friends is digital. Whether it's on Instagram or Facebook, these things have progressed a lot.

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In our time as children, we used to form friendships with people we saw often or who lived in front of our house. However, digital technology has advanced so much today, and technology has progressed so rapidly that even if someone lives in Mumbai and their best friend lives in Paris, they can still talk to each other, and this is a huge thing because there's such a huge gap between them. In earlier times, such friendships were almost impossible. But today, it's become much easier through the internet and communication, and apps like Instagram, Discord, and many other games allow you to become friends. Friendship zones have become a thing of the past.

And this is especially beneficial for those who are extremely introverted and can't communicate with people from the outside world. They enjoy their conversations online. Introverts know they can't communicate with people from the outside world. No, they can make friends with them. So, they believe more in digital friendships and talk to people who are far away from them. They simply share their thoughts with them. They share their thoughts, and this way they become friends, and this boosts their confidence. But are all these friendships really real, or are they just for show? This is only known to the person talking to them, and this varies from case to case.

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If I talk about myself, I have two or three online friends I met through PUBG. I used to play PUBG a lot, so I made two or three friends there, and they started playing regularly. They were from Uttarakhand and were very nice people. In my case, digital friendships were very good. Their names didn't matter to me, but when I gradually stopped playing PUBG, they also drifted away. Therefore, digital friendships aren't as plastic because if you don't talk to them daily, they will gradually fade from your life. This is where it comes in.

Real friendships, the ones you cultivate since childhood—you might not talk to them for three or four months, but the next day you meet, you'll discuss the same topics you missed the previous day. This is the best thing. I love real friendships, but fake digital friendships will give you everything you need. Of course, you'll need to talk to people every day to get there, and dear friendships will give you all that. Plus, they don't care if you don't talk every day. You guys are busy too, and that's why I prefer those friendships over digital ones.

But in many cases, these digital friendships are often fake and highly filtered. Let's say you're talking to a girl or a boy, and you find out that the girl is actually a boy, and you gave her some money thinking she was a girl. This is when your fake friendship comes to light. When that fake profile is revealed, and this doesn't even happen to you. It happens to many people, and there are many cases where the girl, trusting you, sends you a lot of photos. Then, when they have a fight, the boy blackmails her and takes money from her. In all these cases, the girl's family, out of shame, can't even file a police complaint. It's then that you understand that digital friendships aren't always acceptable. Therefore, you need to think carefully and maintain strict boundaries. Even if you do talk because nothing happened, you must set a limit that you won't talk to that person beyond that point.

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Everyone's situation is different. Some people get along well. They only communicate digitally, sharing their emotions. They tell each other everything and don't bother much with each other. But some people are extremely bad. Therefore, you must always maintain a clear boundary. Share only as much as you can with them and avoid excessive contact with them, because in many cases, very bad things have happened, and they didn't. Not everyone is bad, but many people are good. People can even become best friends later, and even good friends. Outside of the digital world, many people have very bad ones, so you always have to investigate. You have to observe the person's attitude. You have to see if they are really that way, and you have to understand whether what they pretend to be is actually that or someone else, and whether there's something else behind it. Because today's world is such that you can't trust everyone. You have to think very carefully before believing in someone.

Lastly, I would say that if you want to talk to someone and make friends online, you need to remember them through things like not depending on timely digital radiation. Meet people in person. If possible, even once it has changed everything. Keep your emotions, gadgets, and trust in it once. In a not-so-major friendship, keep an active status and seen messages. Sometimes a call, a voice message, or more than 100 texts. These are the things you need to understand and remember through small, gentle reminders. If you keep all these things valid, only then can you start your friendship with them. Congratulate them and share all those things with them that you cannot share with anyone else. You don't have to do anything before this, and after all this, you just have to talk to them, but even then you have to keep the conversation within limits. Don't share any personal photos. This is what Black Melody people do later. So, you can talk to someone online in the digital world with a lot of imitation.

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