Virtual friends

[Back in the fold]

With the sad passing of Byron I have noticed a phenomenon I have never thought much about . Virtual friends and acquaintances are a thing of recent times . It seems peculiar to think of as friends someone you’ve never met in person and don’t even know their real name . Most of us here don’t even know what we look like and all we know about any of us is what we post or pontificate about . And yet . . . I consider as friends several people here on The Great TFF Forum . This little corner of interwebby land is a real community and I always look forward to yanking some chains and learning things here and seeing the great pictures and videos of peoples fish and aquariums , people who are just ordinary everyday people like me . I can honestly say that I have only encountered , at most , two people here who irrigated me and they didn’t last long and are no longer here . So long Byron , rest well and all the rest of you fine people here please live long and prosper - even @Fishmanic .

 

[Ceez]

I'd be upset if people "irrigated" on me too

 

[connorlindeman]

even @Fishmanic?

 

[Fishmanic]

even @Fishmanic?

yeh, that sounded like a kick in the teeth to me too. . No respect.

 

[Back in the fold]

even @Fishmanic?

And even you plant boy .

yeh, that sounded like a kick in the teeth to me too. . No respect.

You and me got our respect from Svengoolie . That’s something ain’t it ?

 

[Fishmanic]

@Back in the fold
Your previous remark (“even Fishmanic”) warrants 10 rubber chickens to be thrown at you.

 

[connorlindeman]

@Fishmanic

 

[Magnum Man]

It’s pretty natural to make forum friends… when they are themed the way this one is… tanks have always been a big interest to me, so we all have something in common… this is not the only themed forum I’m on as a man of many interests and hobbies, they are a good source of information exchange… I don’t join them to make friends, but it happens naturally, when you find members, that have similar sub interests

 

[GaryE]

Years ago on a long dead forum, a poster asked about Loreto Tetras, which I happen to really like. We talked about them, and over a couple of years, just kept talking about life. Eventually, she, my wife and I became good friends, and when she was becoming very ill, we would drive a few hours south to the US and go places with her. She even gave us our first dog, a 9 year old rescue she correctly thought would be ideal for us. She worked with a dog shelter.

She passed away a couple of years ago, and it took us quite some time to confirm that. When you make long distance friends online, the normal ways of connecting don't work when someone stops communicating. When she died, my wife was in the middle of a battle with cancer, and the borders were closed with COVID. It took me a few months of checking local obits to confirm that she was indeed gone. It was the same feeling of grief or loss I have had about friends who lived up the road. A friend is a friend, even if you often don't know what they look like.

When Byron stopped posting, I feared the same process, and also checked. When we were informed about what was going on, it was sad, but it also allowed us that closure.

That is the other side of these real friendships we can develop here. Online, when you vanish, the reasons can be many.

But it is funny - I find myself wondering how Magnum's doing with the tetras, or how the Badger bunch, Back in the Fold , Gwand or others here are - you people have weird names.

 

[davros]

- you people have weird names.

Dunno what you mean

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Confession: Badger isn't my real name. My real name is Simon James Alexander Ragsdale III.

 

[Magnum Man]

Guessing you’re not really a professional cat herder either…. So much misinformation on the internet…
Though teaching has to be about like trying to herd cats

 

[Oldspartan]

Years ago on a long dead forum, a poster asked about Loreto Tetras, which I happen to really like. We talked about them, and over a couple of years, just kept talking about life. Eventually, she, my wife and I became good friends, and when she was becoming very ill, we would drive a few hours south to the US and go places with her. She even gave us our first dog, a 9 year old rescue she correctly thought would be ideal for us. She worked with a dog shelter.

She passed away a couple of years ago, and it took us quite some time to confirm that. When you make long distance friends online, the normal ways of connecting don't work when someone stops communicating. When she died, my wife was in the middle of a battle with cancer, and the borders were closed with COVID. It took me a few months of checking local obits to confirm that she was indeed gone. It was the same feeling of grief or loss I have had about friends who lived up the road. A friend is a friend, even if you often don't know what they look like.

When Byron stopped posting, I feared the same process, and also checked. When we were informed about what was going on, it was sad, but it also allowed us that closure.

That is the other side of these real friendships we can develop here. Online, when you vanish, the reasons can be many.

But it is funny - I find myself wondering how Magnum's doing with the tetras, or how the Badger bunch, Back in the Fold , Gwand or others here are - you people have weird names.

Weird name? Huh, I am both old and was once and always a Spartan.

 

[gwand]

Gwand. The G is an initial for Gary. So we have at least two Garys on this site.

 

[GaryE]

Okay, I'll bite. Is a Spartan in this case a college sports team? Or do you wear funny sandals and speak ancient Greek?