I still find it amusing that we live in the same city, @whimsicalobservant and I even studied the same subject at the same university, and we still managed to never meet IRL.
My mom used to be a bit weird about internet friends but then I went to college and she made friends on FB. Dad was never weird about it but he often works with people he hasn't met irl. I think what helped mom was that I would mention random facts about people like "so-and-so's doing her student teaching in Georgia and some of the kids..." It helped make them more real to her I think.
yeah see that just makes it worse. "how do you know so much about these people?" it's a never-ending stream of questions. i never need a child because the way my parents ask me about the internet is the way a five-year-old asks their parents about what am the sky.
My mom is terrible about internet friends too. She thinks that everyone on the internet is actually a creep out to get me, and if I interact with anyone I'm going to get kidnapped. That's why she doesn't know about kintsugi. I wanna meet you guys though! I really like you, but everyone's like faaaar away :( I'd be up for MASSIVE KINTSUGI ROAD TRIP
The pen pal allegory was already mentioned, but I kinda wanna drop sports/game/whatever clubs and literary salons here. Places you go where you probably don't know anyone at all at first, but you have at least one hobby in common. Then you get to know them. The internet in its amazingness can connect people of similar interests across the globe and really the only thing in the way might be language barriers. Idk, maybe it's my age and bc my parents are super cool about the internet and I was raised accordingly, but I look at the internet and see something utterly amazing. And, idk, it's cheaper and less exhausting and kinda safer than going clubbing. And more fun. (This might be personal bias. Clubs tend to induce overloads for me) oh man yeah, road trip through the usa is a thing i really wanna do. but first i need to get myself a job and money. i really wanna meet the northfield nakama, i owe a great deal of sanity and sense to them ::D @littlemissCodeless pfft, we can totally meet up sometime ::D (speaking of, did you study skandinavistik? bc i vaguely remember a lady with long black hear wearing your kinda style of clothing who gave me a list of resources in my first semester)
I have this problem with some of my real life acquaintances. When I say I know people from the internet they look at me like I am from another planet. When I tell them I have met up with loads of people they start talking about Catfishing :P My parents were really good about it though. It probably helped that I talked about all the people I know loads. When in 2013 some of my friends came to the Netherlands my parents also met them and they were like: 'It's like you guys have known each other for a really long time'. That was funny :P No shit Sherlock, I've known these guys for six years! And I am meeting another one of my online friends and her husband on Saturday because they are on honeymoon through Europe. Online friends are totally real. Don't let your parents persuade you otherwise.
Nope, never studied it, also never figured out university enough to be that competent. Must be my good twin. (clearly I´m the evil one) Oh topic, I find online interaction much easier, and as a result have only online friends and a few offline acquaintances. -shrugs-
Yeah. My parents were also super weird about online friends - especially online friends in different countries (since mine is small and not the US, most were different countries). It was silly and annoying, and there is much sympathy.
Also, i think some of it might be your parents going "oh shit what if something bad happens to @pixels again, how do we help them here, they're mixed up in Things We Dont Understand, what if those things are dangerous, what if, what if, /fretting." Even if they know you're an adult, even if they have faith in you, watching your kid hurt is the worst most terrifying thing. And trying to avoid that situation could easily lead to them being kinda asshats. Edit: pronoun fail. Argh brain, many people on the internet are not women, please remember. :(
Seebs pre-screened my therapist who ended up diagnosing my AS. :) So, an online friend had my back when no one I was interacting with face to face had the slightest idea how to help me with a really big Thing that nearly had me down for the count.
@Lissiel spot on, even with the mispronouns. (it is tiring to feminize myself whenever my parents are around.) i'm basically being helicopter parented at 26 years old. from a timezone away. it's fun! everyone should try it. it's also really weird when i have to point out to my parents that my peers and mentors in a work environment are also going to be in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, so why are they weirded out that i found people that old that share actual interests and not just work interests with me? it's also really good for me to have older people to talk to, to remind me that life really does go on and that someday i really can grow to be as old as 40. (this thing seemed impossible to me until very recently.) so to have older people around is actually very helpful for my psyche.
I like knowing older people, cause like. It proves that if they can survive till 30s and 40s so can I.
My parents were the exact same thing, and then I met a guy online, started dating him and in two years, married the SHIT outta him. At that point, my parents finally backed off. They still don't...fully understand? But they've accepted there's nothing they can do to change it. But yeah, at first, my mom was convinced my to-be-husband wanted to sell me into sex slavery. e_e
no, actually, it was accurate. i'm encunted, i'm not out to my parents, they use "she" for me. you were (sadly) correct the first time. they haven't picked up on the language i use for myself around them (calling myself "kid" or "child" instead of "daughter," "guess who just got mail addressed to em" using my preferred pronouns, etc.). same with sexuality stuff (haven't picked up that i literally do mean i am dating multiple girls when i say "girlfriends," wording like "spouse" or "person i marry"). i'm perpetually 17 and in need of Protection From Myself. this isn't abusive, it's just Annoying.
I'm sorry, this is shitty and I sympathize, but the content juxtaposed with your icon made me chuckle.
