All Kinds of Friendships Deserve Nurturing

A couple of years back, lots of people would push back against online friendships simply because they didn’t believe connections built online could be real enough to stand the test of time.

For some, it was based on their personal experiences and the uncertainties that came with opening up to strangers you couldn’t even see physically. For others, they couldn’t fathom that anyone could commit genuinely while being miles away.

However, there’s been a shift in recent times. People have begun to realize that real connections can be made online just as they are made offline, and even those who were once guilty of criticizing online friendships have now found themselves in one or two.

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For me, there’s never been a time when I thought offline friendships were the only real thing. In fact, being an introvert who loved being behind the keypad made me believe fiercely in meeting my tribe online, and thankfully, I did. The friends I met online have been my source of hope, joy, and comfort. They love and speak to me in ways that I always imagined a friend would, and I almost never get into unnecessary fights with them. I would say that we share is the most wholesome thing I've ever experienced.

Many people still question how I was able to find such wonderful friends online and the trick is simple. Through discernment and observation.

Before becoming vulnerable with them, I made it a priority to ensure that our values were aligned. I observed their behaviour online, their contributions to social issues, and how they spoke about others. All of these made it easier to identify them as my people, which, in turn, makes it easy to keep nurturing what we share.

I’m also aware that a lot of people prefer to befriend total strangers on the internet these days rather than confide in those who sit beside them, and I think that could be a recipe for disaster sometimes. While people online can be good and texting all day instead of speaking can be more convenient, we should never get to the point of neglecting those we’ve known all these years.

I would say the trick to navigating this is to create a balance between both. While we keep up with our friends online, sometimes there is a need to step outside, have fun with the friends around us, share physical hugs, kiss their cheeks, and have them look into our eyes while speaking assuring words to us.

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That physical touch in friendship is something that should never go extinct.

I also encourage friendships that thrive offline because of their advantages. For instance, words are almost never misconstrued in physical friendships, unlike online friendships, where we may not know what tone to attach to a certain text, and all of that leads to a whole argument.

There’s also that depth that comes with physical friendships that seems to be lacking in the ones we’ve got online. Even I, despite having the coolest and kindest friends, still wish to close the gap that exists because we are limited to staying friends online.

Additionally, there’s a lesser chance that your physical friends will go MIA. Even if they do, you could easily find them. But of course, we know how easy it is for online friends to deactivate their accounts, ghost on us, and make themselves totally unreachable for days.

This may have turned to a post too long to read. But my point is, both online and offline friendships are as beautiful as anything could be, and they deserve to be nurtured as they grow with us. Neither should be made to feel more important than the other. Ultimately, I think we should all just have friends. That should come first. Have friends, for there’s not a single thing better than experiencing the joy of friendship.

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