I miss the friends I never met

Led in bed talking to myself again and it got me thinking to says gone by and all the online friends I used to have that have just slowly faded away.

Going back some 25 years or more there was my friend yemmi in a Yahoo chat room I have a doll named after her but somewhere about 20 years ago the chats stopped and she just drifted away.

Then there was that old Yahoo group I created where I'd loads of online friends. The group still exists in the Yahoo archives but all but one of those friends I haven't spoken to in years and the remaining 1 is some what weird lol.

Then there was all the kik and EP friends that existed. Stiffy Adam who I still have contact for but scarcely talks. Nick who I talked to for years then suddenly he vanished then I found him on a different platform and he pretended not to know me. There was a young mixed race guy lived in London can't even remember his name now but he was one of my first EP friends. There was so so many friends. I even met my ex on EP though of course I met him so he doesn't really count for this story lol. Recently connected with Mike on here we were getting along great now he's vanished too.

Online friends are not what they were, I miss having good people to chat to. 99.9% of people now just turn out to be strange 😏

WellFrog · 56-60, M

Your experiences mirror so many of my own. And, I should imagine, those of so many here who have known sincere and meaningful connections online. It is an untamed land devoid of rules or even etiquette at times, yet at once a treasure trove of opportunity for paths to cross that otherwise never would have absent online forums.

From my own entree into the web I have established strong friendships (and indeed deeper connections) that, out of necessity or simply the foibles of life getting int he way, slowly became only memories. I recall the days of Yahoo Chat, one of the best ways to find a new friend, and an ideal proving ground for honing the skill of reading people. So often I read right through someone's veil of deceit because we reveal so much in the written that we can hide in spoken conversation.

These days I look upon all online relationships as fleeting at best. Knowing at the outset that, truly, all good things must come to an end does not soften the blow in the least. That is the practical downside to all of this, having to simply let go at some point - and forgive yourself for not being happy about the necessity!

I empathize with you as you reminisce about all of those who once touched your life and are now gone. Personally, I feel that every individual who has profoundly touched my own life without the benefit of ever knowing their company in person still left as indelible an impact on my consciousness as anyone I have known in reality and seen drift out of my life. Hold fast tot he happy memories and allow all of them to have a positive influence on who you are today.

Spectre128 · 51-55, M

The same does happen for real life friends though, some travel with you for a while and then the path divides, you each have different priorities in your life, different amounts of spare time, etc Sometimes you might just go off on-line chatting too.

Roundandroundwego · 61-69

When I grew up and became an adult nobody was ever allowed to touch me and I was not allowed to show any affection to anyone. Ghosts inhabited my mind. Visions of people touched me.