There are a lot of people out there who aren't
who they say they are--
in small ways and big ways.
I think it is totally fine for someone to become friends
with someone online, but you have to be very, very careful.
You know, they're thinking over their text,
and their pictures could be fake.
On social media, you can talk to people,
but, like, you can't really get your emotion across.
Talking to strangers online, it's 50/50.
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GIRL: Some of the benefits of online relationships,
it's definitely easier to interact and talk to people
because you're thinking about what you're saying
and you just are more comfortable.
Right, so some of the greatest parts
about having a friendship with someone online
is that they're easily accessible,
you can just text them, be like, "Hey, what's up?"
You can have that sort of immediate connection
all the time.
If you are in a smaller community,
becoming friends with someone online allows you
to become friends with someone who has a similar interest
as you and you can have a really good friendship with someone.
I really do enjoy playing video games.
Connecting with other people, whether they're strangers,
or if I'm playing with my friends and talking to them,
and, you know, doing something together,
I think that that's really fun
that we can all enjoy the same thing.
You don't feel like you actually have to deal with this person.
So if they don't like what you're saying,
they can leave, and if you don't like what you're say...
what they're saying, you can leave.
Sometimes having conversations can just be kind of...
they can make you sort of anxious.
When you're online, you're behind the screen.
It'll make it easier for them to say things
that they want to say, that they might not say in real life.
There is a very significant difference
between a real friendship and an online friendship.
That's not to say that your online friendships aren't real.
It's just that they're different.
There's something called IBF, so internet best friends.
And basically they text and they become best friends,
but they haven't met them in real life.
I feel a lot of genuine trust
between the people that I talk to online
because they were really close friends of my close friends.
It's just, I think, trust is the main thing.
So I have become friends with people
who are friends of friends, or I know through other people.
I'll add them on, you know, Instagram, or Snapchat,
you know, whatever it is I'm using.
And maybe I'll just say hi, or just start a conversation.
There's things that you can tell people online
that you can't tell people in real life.
At the same time, you have to know how to be safe, right?
I would say I'm more comfortable talking face-to-face
because, like, on social media, you can talk to people,
but, like, it's hard to, like, communicate,
like, a sense of realness and, like, emotions.
If the person is a total stranger to you, you might...
they may have an alternative motive
trying to get other information out of you.
They might be pretending to be somebody that they're not.
They might be using you for something.
Like, please don't tell people online your full name
or where you live.
You don't actually know who they really are
and you need to be sure that they're okay.
I think a lot of people assume that because you're having...
you have a friend online and they're kind of
not always in your day-to-day, you can choose and edit
what you say to them, that it's always going to be good.
But it's still a relationship, it's still two people,
and you're giving them a lot of information about yourself.
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