My online friends list really began in 2007.

Halo 3 had just launched in December, and I found myself online at any waking moment playing custom games with friends. Most of my friends list consisted of people from Georgia who I knew from school, but soon I made new friends online while playing with my IRL friends (In Real Life). My friends list soon maxed at 100 and I knew people from all reaches of the globe.

I really consider this a special thing, it is something my parents never even saw as a possibility when they introduced me to gaming.

I recall playing the original Tomb Raider on PC with my Dad as a kid, and seeing Half-Life on the shelf. Now here I am in 2016 playing Fallout 4 and Tom Clancy’s The Division. Single player or not, I have someone to game with or talk to at almost any time of the day. If I’m up at 3am, I just message a friend on the west coast. If I want to play multiplayer, my old IRL friends and I meet up with our Canadian neighbors online. The perks of having friends around the world are many beyond just having someone to game with.

First of all, it’s free.

Most chat platforms and VOIP (Voice over IP) are free, they just often have subtle ads.

Secondly, I get to be exposed to things I am not familiar with.

It might be I learn about Tim Horton’s Timbits and their delicious allure, or I get to share the concept of Krispy Kreme’s classic white hats.

Furthermore, I get a sense of community.

Combining my IRL friends and my online friends into a cultural and nerdy conglomeration creates a beautifully distinctive collective. OK, I admit, that was a little overly descriptive. But it is the only way I can describe what I get to experience on a daily basis.

So what I am getting at is don’t be afraid to make new friends online. Always be careful as there are nefarious characters out there, but more often than not you too can become part of your own online community.