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I have met many people online, but not physically. Like a boy who's like my brother. They're no less than my real-life buddies. So I have to create a group of contacts devoted to those people only. What can I name that group? Virtual people would be geeky, I need something that's also respectable.

tchrist
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Rose Winters
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    "Online friend". There isn't really any term you can use that wouldn't be interpreted as disrespectful to some degree. Other terms you can use include: virtual friend, pen pal, long-distance friend, etc. – Othya Sep 02 '14 at 14:32
  • Thanks, I've gone with pen-friend now, which seems not at all any disrespectful, but a better and classic alternative to a friend whom you've not met physically. – Rose Winters Sep 02 '14 at 14:34
  • My wife calls all mine cyber friends and "fake friends" when she's being snide. –  Sep 02 '14 at 15:31
  • Let me cook up a word... Cyber Chum – Renae Lider Sep 02 '14 at 15:42
  • Great question, of our era ! – Fattie Sep 02 '14 at 15:45
  • My girlfriend who lives in Canada? /avenueQ – Brian S Sep 02 '14 at 19:32
  • "Online friend" is the best bet. Anyone can understand it, and it can be used formally. It also doesn't tie up with exactly how you communicate with this person, except that you do it online. Slang-wise, there are a lot of answers here already giving you slangs and neologisms but they are casual and must be treated as such. Some of them also tie up to how exactly you communicate with the person when online. – ADTC Sep 04 '14 at 00:07
  • I've always said "My Imaginary Friend"... maybe that's why I get strange looks in response? – Liath Sep 04 '14 at 13:56
  • Heavily related, don't know why I didn't see this question until today, but the answer in this "older" question is a duplicate. Word for a friend you have never met? – Mari-Lou A Sep 05 '14 at 11:25

8 Answers8

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Before the Internet was born, people used to communicate with other people in other places by writing physical letters, mainly for exchanging languages, but also for other purposes, like sharing mutual interests, mating, etc. They'd have their contact details on the related magazines so that the others would've been able to contact them.

That was called a pen friend, or less formally, a pen pal. The alternative spelling for them are penfriend and penpal, without that space in between.

You can check the definitions and articles about these terms on LDOCE and Wikipedia.

Neeku
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  • Wow that seems such a beautiful term for this. – Rose Winters Sep 02 '14 at 14:30
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    Would those terms still hold, or do we now use 'mouse friend' ...? – Edwin Ashworth Sep 02 '14 at 14:36
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    You barely type with a mouse these days @EdwinAshworth. I'd go with 'keyboard friend' if I really wanted to replace 'pen'. – Neeku Sep 02 '14 at 14:37
  • Or maybe textfriend? – bib Sep 02 '14 at 15:41
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    I've used "pen pal", but personally never heard the term "pen friend", Pen pal is a good word, even though it's a throwback to hand writing, but terms like "hanging up the phone" is still in use as well, even though we don't physically hang it up any more. – stephenbayer Sep 02 '14 at 15:44
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    Pen-friend/pen-pal may well be a transatlantic difference. BrE certainly uses pen-friend (as well as pen-pal); other Commonwealth dialects may do too. – Andrew Leach Sep 02 '14 at 22:07
  • @EdwinAshworth The term used early on for this sort of thing was "key pal." (Or I assume "key friend" in places that used "pen friend.") You can hear it used in some mid '90s Internet stuff. But we've mostly fallen back on pen pal now that the novelty of the Internet has worn off. – trlkly Sep 03 '14 at 06:11
  • @trlkly My father would have been pleased to hear that :-) – Edwin Ashworth Sep 03 '14 at 06:27
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    I think penpal/penfriend suggests communication by exchange of private letters. This could definitely apply to a prolongued email exchange, but doesn't quite seem to fit for me if your primary interaction with them is through some other medium, like a forum or another online community. – starsplusplus Sep 03 '14 at 18:37
  • @starsplusplus You are largely correct, but email is not the only medium. I think text messaging works, too, for example. As does social media. As long as your primary means of interacting is typing, it seems to fit. What doesn't necessarily work is in, say, online gaming. – trlkly Sep 04 '14 at 00:15
  • @trlkly Social media depends how it's used. Exchanging lengthy Facebook private messages, for example - yes. Seeing their Facebook updates and commenting on them - probably not. I think to describe it as penpalling the messages would have to both be private and of a reasonable length (so text messaging could count depending on length I guess). – starsplusplus Sep 04 '14 at 01:20
  • If I used the term "pen-friend" in the US, people would look at me funny and most likely have no idea what I was talking about. I'd go with "online friend" or "Facebook friend." – Entbark Sep 04 '14 at 13:40
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    How about people you know from Skyping with them, or YouTube friends? Not much penning in those, usually … pen pal may fit, or it may not. Depends on your individual situation. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 04 '14 at 15:41
  • Heavily related, don't know why I didn't see this question until today, but the answer in this "older" question is a duplicate. Word for a friend you have never met? – Mari-Lou A Sep 05 '14 at 11:01
  • Right @Mari-LouA, however it's not an accepted answer, unfortunately. I hadn't seen that post either. I remember these terms from my brother and aunt's old magazines, and also my English books from years ago. (: – Neeku Sep 05 '14 at 11:22
  • Sorry, I meant to post my comment under the OP's question. You're not at fault, pen pal is a very common well-known expression, albeit a little dated. – Mari-Lou A Sep 05 '14 at 11:24
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Online friend may convey the idea:

  • Definition of someone you only chat with on the Internet.

    • An online friendship begins when two people bond and have things in common, just like an offline relationship. The friends may share photos, email each other, or chat on the phone eventually. The friendship can become a source of support and provide emotional benefits even though the friends will never meet in person.

http: www.friendship.about.com

  • That's a fine alternative, but the persona of the term is way behind the gravity of a serious friend (denoted as a real-life close friend generally). In modern context, an online friend is not worth the respect a friend is, but that's not the case with me... – Rose Winters Sep 02 '14 at 14:26
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    @RoseWinters there is no term you can use in this case. It's a fact that people consider real life friendship above online friendship. All you can do is add a descriptor such as "a good online friend of mine", or "a trusted online friend of mine" – Othya Sep 02 '14 at 14:34
  • And thus my question "Is there a word..."? – Rose Winters Sep 02 '14 at 14:37
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    indeed, the only phrase I ever use is "he's an online friend" or "he's an online colleague" (if it's business oriented). – Fattie Sep 02 '14 at 15:46
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    It's not a generic term, but Facebook friend has a nice ring to it. – Spehro Pefhany Sep 03 '14 at 16:27
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In cyber space you can do all kinds of cyber activity, including cyber crime, cyber bullying, cyber security, cyber auctions, cyber attacks, work at your cyber job, obey cyber law, bend to the whim of cyber police, enjoy a journey in cyberquest (jk), find a new job through cyber recruitment, avoid cyber terrorism, attend a cyber university, accumulate cyber wealth, all while making cyber friends.

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If you're not opposed to a neologism, why not use "e-quaintance" or "ecquaintance"?

blackappy
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    'While I delight in exciting new words being invented and promulgated, I think we will rapidly lose our reputation as a place where people can get authoritative answers if many answers are not authoritative but just merely inventive.' (nohat) – Edwin Ashworth Sep 02 '14 at 16:50
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    If my coinage has broken any of english.stackexchange's rules or guidelines, then I offer my apology up front. But don't expect my answers to implicitly or explicitly buttress the position of any perceived authority. – blackappy Sep 02 '14 at 17:12
  • Thanks for that. Even though I wouldn't go so far as calling it brilliant. I'm about as dim as they come. ;) – blackappy Sep 04 '14 at 10:54
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Long Distance Friends

This is the term we use within my circle of friends that I've accumulated after 10+ years growing up with the internet. I have met a fair few of my transatlantic and transpacific friends in person, but I use the term in encompass those I still haven't also.

Amicable
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Cyber-buds, short for cyber buddies :)

Neeku
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johan.i.zahri
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How about "close friend," "friend," or what you would call anyone else you were friends with? The onky one being disrespectful is the person that feels they are of less importance because they are not physically present.

penny wainwright
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Just call them, friend, buddy, mate - or what ever you would do if you knew then in person. Why do you need to differentiate?

It’s the bond of the relationship that is important not the term. So pick one you are happy with. Otherwise to add a description of the type of friend they are seems as if you are excusing or justifying the relationship.

Would you say - my gay friend, my black buddy or my disabled mate? I’m hoping the answer is no !!

So call your online relationship what it is without explanation.

W Dab
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