V is for Virtual

I have been a geek pretty much all of my life. I adopted the idea of an online culture long ago. First with Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) which are primitive in comparison to anything you might find on the internet today. Then on to AOL chat rooms, where I fell in with a creative group of role players and writers. Later on forum boards and gaming communities for games like Team Fortress Classic (TFC) and World of Warcraft (WOW). Today I'm growing more immersed into Twitter every day. 

In "real life" I'm pretty shy, but online I feel like my true personality comes out. Maybe this is because I can give a little more thought to what I say, or maybe because Twitter is much like talking to yourself on a global level.

Some of my TFC Friends - Girl Power Forever :)

This gets me thinking about my virtual friends... people I will likely never meet in person, but like to hang out with online. People I share details of my life with, offer advice to, turn to for guidance, "adopt" in an effort to help them out... the list goes on. It's hard to explain the strength of online friendships to someone who has never experienced it... it sounds kind of crazy to call people you've never "met" friends. But I do. I have some fantastic "virtual" friends, some of whom I have known for 10 years or more. 

So this is a tribute to you, my virtual friends. You have all touched my life in some way and I am thankful for each of you. There have been times when you have helped me more than you know. Know too that I'm here for you should you need me. Virtual or not, a friend is a friend.