How do you respond to this situation?
 

When talking to "non-cyber" friends and acquaintances and something comes up that has been discussed on this message board, how do you respond to them?

This actually came up twice recently. I was speaking to someone the other day and found myself caught up in this one. It started out "Oh I have this friend...", and then I backpedalled and changed it to "Actually he's more of an acquainance...". Thinking more on it, it then became "Well I know this guy...", until I realized that I only know of one person on this board that I have actually met.

So it has proven to be awkward for me, even if it is only in my head.

Can you call someone your buddy/friend/acquaintance when you only correspond through message boards or boardmail? Just wondering how you guys/girls feel about it?

I once in all seriousness nearly announced to a group of friends that "I know the guy that owns that company" when referring to zephyr hats. That's how demented one can get on these boards.

When speaking to non-board friends about things discussed here, I often find myself saying that I heard "from a friend..." It's the way to escape the embarrasing "how do you know him" question.

Since I do not have real friends, I often refer to people on these message boards as friends. I guess it does help that I have met a few of them. I've only met a few from this board, but have met several from utefans.net

I say acquaintance or friend. Maybe society will come up with a new term for these type of cyber relationships. Its kind of like having a community of pen pals.

Has anyone on this board actually met Mike? (Besides Statman)

Not yet
 

he keeps riding with those gorgeous gals from the Dallas area leaving no time to spend with cybersports friends.

I have met Il Padrino, Statman and his charming wife, and a few others.

BTW, when do your ads come out, Mike is concealing the release, fearing you might get too many suitors.

...
 

i bet you guys have talked about fusnik to your wives....

i can see the conversation now.

you: honey, do you think that lds kids are making out a ton with each other? do you think our daughter will have kissed a lot of boys before she makes it to college?

your wife: why does my servant ask such questions?

you: well this guy i know, he says he makes out with a ton of hot chicks. just wondering if you think its true, says he went on a mission as well and is a current recommend holder.

your wife: why does your fake friend have to do with me? please finish cleaning the garage and stop pretending like you have friends that i havent pre-approved...

my wife knows not what I do
 

all she says, "why do you guys sit around complaining how badly BYU is playing, and why not just enjoy the games?"

She'll never understand.

My wife saw Archaea's avatar the other day. She said, "Now I know why you hang out online all the time."

Yeah
 

that avatar is the most action some of us get in a long time.

To paraphrase Bill Shakespeare..
 

"A friend by and other name is a friend."

Or something like that.

I usually refer to folks from the boards as friends, as I see no reason to not consider them friends. As Archaea mentioned, we've met each other and I've met a few others such as mpfunk, but I get the feeling that because our personalities are pretty much online what they are in real life, I know most here who post.