13.1 Cyberspace

* Have you made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace? If so, how are they different from f2f relationships? If you have not formed cyber relationships, why not?

I would not name it as friendship, but I know someone solely through the cyberspace. I never met this one lady in person. She owns a translation website. Because I love translations, once in a while I visit her website. We actually almost met in person in one weekend she visited the Bay Area. But at the last minute she could not make it, and until today we have not met each other in person. In this particular case, this lady and I have a common professional interest. Trenholm (2008) mentions that “the Internet offers us news and information” (p. 326). Also, in addition to visiting her website, we also exchange emails to keep ourselves updated on the latest news about translation.

I would say that cyberspace friendship is different from face to face friendship mainly because of the lack of nonverbal. But nowadays, with the webcams, nonverbal expressions can not be hidden anymore. I love technology, but when it comes to friendship, maybe I am still old school, but I still prefer in-person friendship rather than cyberspace friendship.

Ibirapuera