Recently awareness around cyberbullying, paedophiles and catfishing online has been circulating and making social media seem like a hostile, unsafe place to be. Increasing rates of online bullying are making parents wary of letting their child explore the web by themselves. What we need to understand, is if the internet is a safe way to talk and meet new people.
Personally, I have a lot of experience with making friends online. I've met so many great friends through an app called discord. Discord is a messaging app used commonly for gaming but is also used for a lot of different interests. It's basically like joining a club; some servers are about art, fandoms, games, or anything else. I was introduced to discord through a different website. I was posting art there and a group of artists who had a discord server noticed my art and invited me to join their group. There are 80+ people in the server, however, it feels like a close-knit community. We share art, do collaborations and host contests. I met one person through that server who is now my best friend, and we call each other every night. I'm so thankful for discord because it feels like a place where I can be myself without fear of judgement. I'm surrounded by people who share a similar interest in me - art.
So, what are the positives about meeting people online? I think that the main pro is that it's easy to find people like you. You can usually tell if you'll like someone after talking to them for a little while, and if you do then you can keep talking with them. It's also great because you can do online activities with them, like play multiplayer games together. Another pro is that if you're shy, you can be more confident because it doesn’t involve face-to-face talking. Unfortunately, this can also be negative, but we'll get to that shortly.
What are the negatives? I'd say there are a few main ones which are pretty easy to avoid.
One of the main things about talking to people online is that you don't know 100% exactly who you're talking to unless you talk to them enough and do frequent video calls with them. This can mean that someone could lie to you about who they are, and this is how predators prey on unsuspecting kids online. Another negative is cyberbullying- as I mentioned earlier, people become bolder by hiding behind a screen. It's easy to say things without a consequence, which can lead to severe bullying. Lastly is the fact that IF you make a friend online, you can't hang out with them in real life. This really sucks because my friend and I really want to meet up but we're 15 and he lives all the way over in Canada.
How can you avoid the negatives? As long as you're safe with personal information and make sure that you don’t tell anyone things like your address, last name, or school you go to, it's pretty safe. However, there are hackers out there so you also have to make sure that your passwords are secure. 123456789 is NOT a good password. Trust me. If you don't like someone online, then you can block them. This means that they won't be able to message you, and this is a pretty solid way of getting someone to leave you alone. I've blocked people who have bothered me before and they left me alone afterwards.
In conclusion, is making friends online worth it? In my opinion - yes, definitely. I've had so much fun with my online friends and laughed so hard that I cried on multiple occasions while talking to them. I wouldn't take it back at all, and I'm so thankful for them. I would highly recommend putting yourself out there to try and meet some new people online because you might just meet your new best friend.
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