I have been on True Nudists for some time now and have been increasingly mystified by the "Friend" function.
On other social networks like Facebook, your friends are usually people you actually know. On this site, though, I have yet to meet the people on my list in real life. I have had interesting exchanges with some of them and I hope that we will meet for real someday. Others, though, will forever be faces (or other body parts) on my profile page.
While I have approached many in the past to be friends, many more have approached me and asked to be a "Friend". That becomes the extent of our "relationship." At the most I get to know when they update their profile, change their status, join a group, receive a bulletin, etc. I can reach all my friends at once when needed through the bulletin, so that's useful. And I can always let them know when I have a new blog posting. But, otherwise, what's the point of being a "Friend" in this sense of the term?
Don't misundertand me: I'm not against the function itself. I'm just wondering if "Friend" is the proper term. Maybe a play on "pen pal," like cyberpal would be better.
What do YOU think?
Replies
- JA
JackNeilsonOct 13, 2010You are right Gerry. I have very limited direct interaction with the people on my friends list with most of it occurring on posts or in groups to which I belong, only one of which is not primarily a resource group. Many people here collect a large number of friends and join a large number of groups as if they are simply trophies or to give them a sense of inclusion. There is little to no activity once they have done so. Of course this is a generalization as I am sure there are others who communicate frequently but they seem to be in the minority.
ReactReply - MEMemberOct 13, 2010
Gerry and wolfboy I completely agree. That is why after a year here, I still have not accepted or sent a single "friend" request.
ReactReply - CO
Curt, or CowboyOct 14, 2010No delete, so double-post as an attempt to keep formatting.
Attempting to edit destroyed paragraph format.ReactReply - AN
AndrewOct 14, 2010I can only share what I do with my messenger contacts and do the same with friends lists on here and elsewhere in cyber, at least twice a year, I will go through the list and delete those who never communicate. There are people who I might chat to once a month or so, and that I like as a good "catch-up" session. There are others more frequently, say weekly or every couple of days or so. Then there are the friends who live near enough to visit, to stay over etc with.
To me, a friend is someone I have at least some things in common interest with. Most of my nudist friends are in England or abroad so physical meeting is difficut, esp since I am on welfare with limited resources. But face to face meeting with sound, through Skype or messenger is the nearest to most of these I will get. That to me, is no less a real friend.ReactReply - GA
gator1Oct 14, 2010I have tended to have some type of back and forth PM communication with new "friends" and then mostly reading their updates unless something new jumps out at me. I did have regular email contact with a couple of TN friends for a while, but one is not real active now, and the other left the site, with some personal conflicts of a different nature.
Gator1ReactReply - JO
johnwsligerOct 14, 2010I have two r-t nudist friends, both of which I met on here. I've talked to a fellow who lives in California and made friends on here with a couple who live back east and the Californian and wife went there to visit them. I guess the "Friend" function is whatever you want to make of it. You want real time friends, just keep on trying. I haven't been on here for as long as quite a few of you but I have had desired results, though I would like to meet more. If you are truly interested in meeting other nudists, when someone close proposes an M&G, accept. Not everyone is able or desirous of going to resorts for various reasons.
John
ReactReply - MEMemberFeb 8, 2011
Well I have a NEW question concerning friends on THIS site. I have noticed that when I visit a friends profile, some will show me as a friend and some do not. It this a computer glitch or can a "friend" be one direction only? I am not concerned or upset but just want to understand.
LilstonesReactReply - ZH
zhaze01Feb 8, 2011In regards to social media such as Facebook, or even TN, "friends" = "cyber acquaintances" in my opinion, and I define the word by its context. I have personally interacted with all of my Facebook contacts, but none of my TN contacts. In real life, my definition of "friend" is very narrow. I have few true friends, but numerous acquaintances.
ReactReply - OR
orbarebearFeb 23, 2011I'm in the same category: facebook friends are people I actually know and want to keep in touch with, even if we don't interact much. It's still a way of not losing touch entirely when our worlds just don't overlap much.
Here, I expect them to be people I've gotten to know, either through messaging, forums or groups, or in the rare case of the one I have friended so far, someone I actually do know.
On another sort of site, I could see "friends" being the audience of an exhibitionist, but I think a "Like" function would be better suited to that...ReactReply - PApaulMar 1, 2011
i frend is someone who dost not want anything from you
ReactReply - SU
Sunbeam65Mar 2, 2011[quote]In regards to social media such as Facebook, or even TN, "friends" = "cyber acquaintances" in my opinion, and I define the word by its context. I have personally interacted with all of my Facebook contacts, but none of my TN contacts. In real life, my definition of "friend" is very narrow. I have few true friends, but numerous acquaintances.[/quote] I think this is absolutely true for most people, but they don't always recognize it. Friendship, in my view, includes much more then can be accomplished through some interactions on a social network. While being here or on Facebook may be a good way to stay connected to a friend, if there is nothing else it's not much of a friendship.ReactReply - MU
muskate16May 4, 2011good point donker!! I agree a driend is someone who you can stay in contact with, messages, bulletins, or in the chatroom, I personally clean my list every so often, if i havent talked to that person for a while, i will delete them.
ReactReply - MEMemberMay 26, 2011
In the sense of the word, a friend is a person is as friend as defined in the dictionary. A new or old friend is one that you can communicate with in some respect.
I try to "touch base" as I call it after a period of time with those I don't get little or no response from over a period of time. After a couple of these with no response, I delete as they apparantly don't want to communicate and have other reasons for requesting me as a friend. So many request that I never hear anything from and that will get them deleted. Whether it be for a big list, looking at pics only, etc., the reason for requesting me as a friend can not be for friendship in this case, so I delete them. If I find that they are not as they seemed and not meeting the person I wish to communicate with, I delete. I rarely request friendship myself, so when I do, it is "Genuine"!
There are always friend requests to me that cannot apparently do not read my profile at the type friends I prefer. Usually, this will not get them accepted although I do accept sometimes going on a "gut" feeling of genuine sincerity, but not often! In short, my friends should be a person that communicates, has similar interests, and one you hear from occasionally!ReactReply - MEMemberJun 7, 2011
i agree starting to wonder my self
ReactReply - MEMemberJun 7, 2011
thanks every one for the advice
ReactReply - DE
DesertRatJun 7, 2011We have a strict set of guide lines for who is on our friends list. The first thing is they have to be people who seem like they could be compatable with us. The second thing is there must be a reasonable chance of actually meeting these people. That is why we have no foreign friends and our east coast and midwest friends do visit Arizona occasionally. We do visit California and have met some of our CA friends there. We exchange messages with our friends about events where we might meet. I wish there was a way to designate which friends who are on our list that we have actually met.
ReactReply - MB
mr. billJun 7, 2011No distance of placenor length of timecan lessen the friendshipof those who arethoroughly persuadedby each others'WORTH !!!!ReactReply - CD
Cheri Donna DawsonJun 8, 2011Bump
ReactReply - NO
NoneJun 8, 2011Interesting comments? Maybe we are doing something right. We have met bunny0977, beachie81, panudecpl. We are going to meet before the summer is over Nudist_cpl and at some point we are pretty sure we will meet and we plan too RandSinDe, openrange and luckyus. We also have nudits friends we met on another site that lives close to us and hang at their place and have also met several nudists from another site at Sunny Rest. We do not chat, we do not cam we want to look in your eyes!
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