Are online conversations as 'good for us' as face to face?

I can express myself better by writing. Though I have friends in person now and I enjoy time spent with them. Many of my online friends I have known now for a very long time. Since at least 2004. Some before that. I forget at times that I don't know them in person. When you are writing something you have that chance to think about what you are saying. Not just answering someone or hurrying through a conversation because you have to leave. At times you can be talking to someone and then get the feeling their attention is on something else. So the conversation is over.

So to answer the question, yes, I think for me, online conversations are as good as face to face........depends on who I am talking to in both instances.
 

katlupe said:
I can express myself better by writing. Though I have friends in person now and I enjoy time spent with them. Many of my online friends I have known now for a very long time. Since at least 2004. Some before that. I forget at times that I don't know them in person. When you are writing something you have that chance to think about what you are saying. Not just answering someone or hurrying through a conversation because you have to leave. At times you can be talking to someone and then get the feeling their attention is on something else. So the conversation is over.

So to answer the question, yes, I think for me, online conversations are as good as face to face........depends on who I am talking to in both instances.
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You have good communication skills. I noticed that early on. When you said you make people wait at the door while you put things away, I assumed it's because you focus better than most.
 
Lee said:
Both are important to me. There are things I can say on here that I would not feel comfortable saying to a friend or neighbor. I can be quite opinionated on certain subjects.

On the other hand for a good heart to heart and a pat on the back or a shoulder to cry on needs a person that you really know and a fresh brewed coffee or a glass of wine.
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I find face to face conversations (that I seem to have daily around here with neighbors) much more involved, and requiring more effort than online ..
sometimes too much involvement. :)...

Online conversations have their place and are more fun to me .... and the same with phone calls, that are usually to family ... . although those phone calls usually turn into text messaging conversations most of the time .. as everyone is busy. :giggle:
 

Serenity4321 said:
I have heard that our social skills become less effective if we do not meet people face to face.:unsure: I don't think I agree. I do both but for sure there are more phone or internet conversations. For sure, some communication is better than isolation and I do find meeting people even just in stores is quite energizing for me. But..so is online or phone conversations.
Not sure I am explaining myself clearly, but if you understand what I am asking ...what do you think? :D
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Decades ago , in person, face to face , I learned what is right and true.

Never on a forum so far. There are exceptions, but not many in twenty years and millions of posts or threads read.
 
Patricia said:
You have good communication skills. I noticed that early on. When you said you make people wait at the door while you put things away, I assumed it's because you focus better than most.
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Thank you, Patricia! I was always a letter writer too, even as a child. I had tons of penpals that I never knew in person either. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was very shy as a child. But writing letters was easy.
 
Lee said:
Both are important to me. There are things I can say on here that I would not feel comfortable saying to a friend or neighbor. I can be quite opinionated on certain subjects.

On the other hand for a good heart to heart and a pat on the back or a shoulder to cry on needs a person that you really know and a fresh brewed coffee or a glass of wine.
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I'll drink to that! LOL
 
I much prefer f2f. Communicating on a forum is OK because of the diversity of the people like on here. Many, many different personalities. Some from foreign countries and the different opinions makes reading the posts enjoyable, unless there are too many posts to read them all.
 
Nathan said:
I think that F2F conversations are important, and more rewarding. The social contact is a human necessity.
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I totally agree with you! There is a certain invisible energy field we all give out when interacting in person, something that is lacking on Zoom or Skype. That is what I miss the most when I'm not able to go out and see/visit/hug/interact with my friends, and even clerks at the stores! It is definitely a human necessity, at least for me. I need the energy feedback to keep the energy flowing.
 
hollydolly said:
I find this too.. I need an injection of ''people''.. to re-energise me, but I also need to take a little break from them also because it mentally exhausts me.. so if I spend a day or 2 with people, I have to have a couple of days by myself. Currently I have no choice I'm on my own.. but generally speaking that's how I am..

Today I was feeling a little like billy no mates.. getting myself sad about no-one being in touch by phone for about a week... and then I had a call from my friend.. and straight afterwards my dd called and was on the line for about 45 minutes, much longer than usual... so it's bucked me up a LOT!!
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When breaking with your spouse is grief. If you do like I have with grief, then you try to find the right energy from someone to visit. I don't know your situation, but for me the comforting family members have died or unavailable for some reason. What a difficult process trying to find someone with the right energy. When you say people can exhaust you, it seems that might be due to some people go on and on and haven't said anything. If you are down, that is draining. Judging from my calls, most were helpful, but it took a while and many calls to find someone with with right energy to visit at such a time. Online is helpful, but there is so much various type energy and intentions coming in from all over creation that it can be overwhelming for people who are hurting at the time. While ending on a night schedule, I realized how online must be helpful for people homebound or with chronic illness. For those able to function in the typical manner, I don't think online is the best option. I noticed myself getting off of the phone faster, irritated with those around me for interrupting my focus online and so on. In other words, I was falling into what I had eventually noticed and felt disappointed about others who became social media participants. Considering the length of time you have been at the forum, you must be familiar with the ins and outs, so there we might differ.
 
Right Now said:
I totally agree with you! There is a certain invisible energy field we all give out when interacting in person, something that is lacking on Zoom or Skype. That is what I miss the most when I'm not able to go out and see/visit/hug/interact with my friends, and even clerks at the stores! It is definitely a human necessity, at least for me. I need the energy feedback to keep the energy flowing.
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Truth.
 
Patricia said:
When breaking with your spouse is grief. If you do like I have with grief, then you try to find the right energy from someone to visit. I don't know your situation, but for me the comforting family members have died or unavailable for some reason. What a difficult process trying to find someone with the right energy. When you say people can exhaust you, it seems that might be due to some people go on and on and haven't said anything. If you are down, that is draining. Judging from my calls, most were helpful, but it took a while and many calls to find someone with with right energy to visit at such a time. Online is helpful, but there is so much various type energy and intentions coming in from all over creation that it can be overwhelming for people who are hurting at the time. While ending on a night schedule, I realized how online must be helpful for people homebound or with chronic illness. For those able to function in the typical manner, I don't think online is the best option. I noticed myself getting off of the phone faster, irritated with those around me for interrupting my focus online and so on. In other words, I was falling into what I had eventually noticed and felt disappointed about others who became social media participants. Considering the length of time you have been at the forum, you must be familiar with the ins and outs, so there we might differ.
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No internet forums don't come before my real life interactions..
 
hollydolly said:
No internet forums don't come before my real life interactions..
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That seems to happen to people. When I made calls, I noticed a difference in the ones on social media. Today, all of my calls, other than daughter, have been from people who aren't on social media. It took a while to make the observation, but at least a red flag. I guess turning too much online for companionship for those who can still get around well is like moving to the nursing home too soon. For those who prefer online, who am I to say. That's their choice. When people are away from family at distance and can visit better online than without, that is an advantage. Also those homebound, etc. Just an opinion. You're a smart lady, so I think you understand what I'm saying.
 
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feywon said:
Another thing about online communication is that you can get broader perspective on an individual since on forums months, if not years of posts and comments are there, allowing one to look for consistency in how they/we portray ourselves and how they/we interact with people. In person it might take you months or years to learn about somebody what you can glean in few days observing and having cyber-interactions with them.

The cyber friends i've had for 10-15 years are those who have displayed consistently humane basic values and have displayed those in their interactions. Its what i looked for in 3D world friends, too.
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That is helpful for new people to look back at the posts to make determinations.
 
Pepper said:
I prefer F2F, but only if it's a person I like. Not necessarily know, I've liked, or enjoyed, total strangers in conversation. I like what @Right Now said about F2F energy.

I like most everybody on this forum. I'd rather be with you than with someone I don't like.
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Yes, enjoyable to visit with people online. I don't know, statistically, how often people chatting online end up actually meeting and hanging out as friends. If strangers call my house wanting to chat, I think I would be more skeptical about hanging on the phone with them all afternoon. So, there may be a tendency online to be more comfortable what lurks on the other end? I've read stories about people who had their online identity stolen, so I suppose there is a need to keep that in mind. Just because there is an avatar, how to know? Also, so many scams and so on, and other online reports of phone hacking, etc. There is another report I read a long time back about FB, and that was something about younger people getting depressed when likes and so on were held back as an experiment. I don't have a way of knowing the details, or valid, but judging from what I read, there were experiments on people. All I'm saying is, I enjoy too, but there are pros and cons and I guess that's what is being discussed so I mention. All I can really offer is my experience, and that is having recently realized that the people I've known for a long time who aren't on social media are more interested in long conversations. Once online myself, I began to notice that I'm less available for people in daily life. I don't think that is a good sign. At the same time, I enjoy the forum, and reading people's thoughts on matter.
 
katlupe said:
I can express myself better by writing. Though I have friends in person now and I enjoy time spent with them. Many of my online friends I have known now for a very long time. Since at least 2004. Some before that. I forget at times that I don't know them in person. When you are writing something you have that chance to think about what you are saying. Not just answering someone or hurrying through a conversation because you have to leave. At times you can be talking to someone and then get the feeling their attention is on something else. So the conversation is over.

So to answer the question, yes, I think for me, online conversations are as good as face to face........depends on who I am talking to in both instances.
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Yes, I see your point. By writing out you can be more detailed, leaving less to the imagination of another person.
 
I've met a couple of forum friends in person @Patricia, and had a great time. One was from England & the other moved to Canada, otherwise we'd still be knowing each other.

When I was in better health, had my car & more money I was planning a cross country trip with the main purpose of meeting a few people I really like. I used to be very adventurous.
 
Facial expressions and body language are critical to communications, especially in humans! In a management environment this is referred to as direct communications (face to face) vs. all other forms, which are indirect communications.

Many people actually avoid direct communications as it is a lot more emotional and can be very uncomfortable depending on the individuals and the situation/ topics being discussed. Bottom line, if you have anything important to say to someone, do it directly.
 
Pepper said:
I've met a couple of forum friends in person @Patricia, and had a great time. One was from England & the other moved to Canada, otherwise we'd still be knowing each other.
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I've met loads..and I mean LOADS of people from forums over the years.. both here in the UK and overseas... I went to someone's Beach wedding once as well in Spain , and every guest at the wedding were from the same forum...
 
Serenity4321 said:
I have heard that our social skills become less effective if we do not meet people face to face.:unsure: I don't think I agree. I do both but for sure there are more phone or internet conversations. For sure, some communication is better than isolation and I do find meeting people even just in stores is quite energizing for me. But..so is online or phone conversations.
Not sure I am explaining myself clearly, but if you understand what I am asking ...what do you think? :D
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I think you are right! I was never very social in person, and virtual communication suits me fine.
 
Just Jeff said:
Decades ago , in person, face to face , I learned what is right and true.

Never on a forum so far. There are exceptions, but not many in twenty years and millions of posts or threads read.
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This seems like another question that might be reason to take a look at the Amish. Now looking back, my comment was intended for the person Just Jeff was communicating with and not him. #30.
 

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