Fiona | 
07 28th, 2008| 
One of the things I have loved about ‘the internet’ is the way I have met so many friends.
I started online almost 11 years ago. I was pregnant with Imogen after over 5 years battling infertility. I was also scared, apprehensive and although 4 close girlfriends were pregnant at the same time, I felt very alone as their experiences were different to mine. So one of the first things I did was join a mailing list for women going through pregnancy after infertility- Panfert. The Panfert ladies helped me get through the pregnancy and then we shared early parenthood and subsequent pregnancies. A few years later, Panfert was disbanded so we set up an ‘egroup’ called IFBabies which is still going strong today. These ladies are some of my best friends, even though most of them are in the US.
Even though I had Panfert, I also looked for information about PCOS and was one of the founding members of POSAA which also started out as an email group. We divided the mailing lists early on and set up a PCOS babies list. It was here I met some of my best friends. 11 of us ’separated’ and formed what we called the Supermums. The Supermums met up in October 2002 (with some kids and partners) for a weekend at Coogee Beach in Sydney. We shared food, wine, stories and so many laughs. Some of these ladies are my closest friends now and we chat regularly on the phone, through IM and SMS.
Then there are people I have met through online social networks like Twitter and Plurk. Some of these people I have met socially too- we have shared gins, beers and food. We have laughed together through our computers and also in the same physical space.
Some of these people though I have never met, but I still care about what goes on in their lives. I send messages when they are down, I share in celebrations and they care about me. When I had my tonsils out I received some gorgeous flowers from people I know through Twitter and so many messages. For my birthday I had lots of messages from old friends, but many many more on Twitter, Plurk and Facebook.
I have come to the realisation that in this digital age there is no difference to ‘real life’ friends and ‘online’ friends. A friend is a friend. Some of my friends don’t understand my online life, but my online life is part of me and what I do. I have friends who are into all sorts of activities that I don’t understand but it doesn’t make them any less of a friend. Perhaps Collingwood supporters excluded!
Creating a binary of ‘real life’ as oposed to ‘online’ friends means that one group is held in higher regard than the other. My online friends are my friends in real life as I am living a real life. No more distinctions from me! What about you?
