>>107544746>>107546907Over time, I've come to the conclusion that the lack of the 3rd dimension really does impact the experience of a friendship. It's nobody's fault and I still deeply value my online friends, but having that physical presence, reading someone's face, their voice not through a mic, seeing their body language and micro-expressive gestures and facial tics, movement, posture, touch and so on, it matters.
Not to mention, it's easier to rely on friends for a multitude of things IRL, and that's a good chance to bond. I myself had to help a friend move and install his new laundry machine, and it wasn't glamorous, and kind of sucked, but we finally got a success out of it, and then we had pizza and beer.
There's an old psychological truism often quoted as being from Ben Franklin about how you can get someone to like you at least a little bit more if you ask them for a (small-ish) favor, and they do it for you.
There's more to mine here but I'm already being obnoxious.
