--

There probably isn't anything more millennialistic than saying, "I met my best friend in a Skype group call." And so the birth on Internet friends came about. An Internet friend is someone who you met online and can generally only talk to online due to how far away they live from each other. There are a few cases, however, where two friends have actually met in person. We will get to that later.

Did I meet my best friend in a Skype call? No, but i have made plenty of friends through the Internet. One lives in Texas, while another lives in North Carolina. I even have friends that live in various parts of Europe, Japan, and even one in Indonesia. Having friends online is the perfect way of experiencing how the Internet connects and reshapes the world.

An aggravating quote that older people say is, "Friends you make online aren't real friends." There is so much evidence that shows that this statement is false. The first is my friend Abby. She and her boyfriend met through a Halo 3 Matchmaking game. (Now I understand why its called matchmaking) Her boyfriend lived up north while Abby lived in the south. Several years later, they met in real life and now live a happy life together. Another prime example is even writing on The Odyssey. Us within the community communicate online through Group Me. If it weren't for the Internet, first we wouldn't be able to communicate at all, and I wouldn't have made the friends I have due to my experience here.

Not only does the Internet create new friendships, but it also revives and keeps them going. Thanks to Facebook, I was able to contact my cousin, who lives across the country, after 8 years of no conversation. I am also still able to talk to my friend who moved to Nebraska over the summer. On the business side of things, teachers and school staff make relations with people outside of their state through Internet communication, sharing ideas and [hopefully] making the classroom a better place. I write for two websites: The Odyssey and Pokéjungle. As stated above, we communicate via Group Me for The Odyssey. For Pokéjungle, we use Facebook Messenger. I have made some great friendships through both, and I thank the Internet for the opportunity to write for them and, more importantly, the Internet friends I have made.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I am thankful for all the friends I have made this year and I finally decided to crawl out of my shell and open up to everyone.

Happy Holidays!

-Quack