Home > Blogs > Mary Yonkers > 'Ask Mary'

Can a Virtual Friend Be Real Friend?

By Mary Yonkers

Education & Training with Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate

January 03, 2011 01:35 AM

Day #3 January Challenge

Can a Virtual Friend Be a Real Friend?

Can a Virtual friend be a Real friend or is the relationship just that Virtual?

ActiveRain has almost 200,000 members. 99.99999999% of them I have never met in person.

Exceptions: Sally Cheeseman & Heather Chavez

Sally & Mary Heather & Mary

Sally & Mary 2010 Heather & Mary 2009

I have had the pleasure of phone conversations with several ActiveRain members. Most touching was a phone call this summer from Margaret Rome. I had been absent from AR for quite awhile and Margaret wanted to know that I was okay and expressed hope that I would be back soon.

Margaret soon our paths will cross as Baltimore is on our next itinerary.

Like a good friend I have reached out to ActiveRain members who need a sympathetic ear, a friendly comment on their blog. As I would with my 'real life' friends I try to follow up to make sure things are improving in their world.

Here are a few AR members that could use a visit from a friend as they have had more than their share of trials & tribulations lately: Robert Brown, Tammy Lankford and Marian Goetzinger.

Guess who might be calling today?

My personal sphere of friends has people who have been leaders, role models, thinkers and motivators as well as my friends. A friend who was there when I needed them or vice versa.

I have learned from them and they clain to have learned much from me. I know I would not be who I am today without my circle of friends.

Since I been a member of ActiveRain my circle of friends has expanded exponentially. Like the real world, my new virtual friends are leaders, role models, thinkers, motivators, supporters. They are there when I need them and I want to be there when they need me.

Be A Friend, Real or Virtual

Friends

When I used this graphic in another post Toni Weidman asked if this was us having tea

Thanks to all my ActiveRain friends---You are real to me.

PA Real Estate classes begin Jan. 8, 2011
Alan Kells Schools of Real Estate
Erie, PA
Mary Yonkers, instructor

Re-Blog

Featured

Comments(51)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Ellen Wright Adams

Academy Mortgage.......We are a Equal Housing Lender - Eugene, OR

LoansByEllen- Licensed in Oregon

Mary: This is a great post. Being a newbie on AR I get the feeling of how 'real' friendship can develop here, and am really enjoying it! Thanks again for the thought-provoking post!

Jan 03, 2011 05:47 PM

Marilyn Harrell

Better Homes and Acres - Beaverton, MI

Wixom Lake - Beaverton MI

Mary, How very nice and well written - have a wonderful day.

Jan 03, 2011 10:24 PM

Mary Yonkers

Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate - Erie, PA

Erie/PA Real Estate Instructor

Tammy--thanks for the update on your family. I hope you had a good night's rest & are ready to write more wonderful posts.

Like you I love the ActiveRain community. Here we can share our joys & concerns as well as business related topics and our friends respond. Thanks for being one of my friends, Tammy.

Jan 03, 2011 10:41 PM

Mary Yonkers

Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate - Erie, PA

Erie/PA Real Estate Instructor

Ellen--A belated welcome to ActiveRain. I love this group. We learn a lot from each other & we care about each other. Hope to see you often. I will visit your site shortly as I want to learn more about reverse mortgages.

Jan 03, 2011 10:45 PM

Mary Yonkers

Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate - Erie, PA

Erie/PA Real Estate Instructor

Marilyn--Thanks for the compliment. It is so nice to see you, too. I will pop over later.

Jan 03, 2011 10:46 PM

Vince McEveety

Gilleran Griffin Realty - Sherman Oaks, CA

cute post

funny

and watch the facebook episode of south park for another take on virtual friends

Jan 04, 2011 03:18 AM

Steve, Joel & Steve A. Chain

Chain Real Estate Investments & Mortgage, Steve & Joel Chain - Cottonwood, CA

Mary,

Great post and so worthy of the "feature". People that are friendly attract "real friends". Case in point (I smile).

Steve

Jan 04, 2011 03:57 AM

Lawrence "Larry" & Sheila Agranoff. Cell: 631-805-4400

The Top Team @ Charles Rutenberg Realty 255 Executive Dr, Plainview NY 11803 - Plainview, NY

Long Island Condo and Home Specialists

Mary, What a sweet blog post this is. Yes "friendships" can be entered into here and we are just meeting you here today because of this post. Nice meeting you and look forward to other posts from you!

Jan 04, 2011 05:25 AM

Heather Chavez

Second Self Virtual Assistance - Caldwell, ID

Real Estate Virtual, Assistant (928) 692-3235

Congratulations on the feature, Mary. I'm happy to see such a thoughtful and kind post getting featured for everyone to see. :)

Jan 04, 2011 05:38 AM

Anthony Daniels

Coldwell Banker - San Francisco, CA

SF Bay Area REO Specialist

Nice post Mary.

Thanks for sharing it.

Jan 04, 2011 05:42 AM

Aaron Seekford

Arlington Realty, Inc. - Arlington, VA

Ranked Top 1% Nationwide 703-836-6116

Great blog, Mary. Sometime I feel like I know a lot of folks on here better than I know some people I walk by everyday on the streets!

Jan 04, 2011 05:52 AM

Barb Merrill

Cactus Mountain Properties, LLC - Tempe, AZ

GRI, Associate Broker

Mary, you are absolutely right! Cindy Mustafa from Ohio, emailed me her Staging Checklist at my request through her blog post on AR. I sooooo much appreciate her willingness to share. She was so sweet about it!

Jan 04, 2011 06:16 AM

Elizabeth Cooper-Golden

Huntsville Alabama Real Estate, (@ Homes Realty Group) - Huntsville, AL

Huntsville AL MLS

Mary, I absolutely believe we can form very deep friendships online...I have several that I consider dear friends and haven't met them, YET :)

Jan 04, 2011 06:21 AM

Amanda Christiansen

Christiansen Group Realty (260)704-0843 - Fort Wayne, IN

Christiansen Group Realty

Wonderfully written Mary. I have formed great relationships with other agents I have met on AR. Barb Szabo is one of my favorites!! :)

Jan 04, 2011 07:06 AM

Gene Mundt, IL/WI Mortgage Originator - FHA/VA/Conv/Jumbo/Portfolio/Refi

NMLS #216987, IL Lic. 031.0006220, WI Licensed. APMC NMLS #175656 - New Lenox, IL

708.921.6331 - 40+ yrs experience

Mary: I don't know where to begin! You make such a wonderful point here ... and that good friendships and contacts can begin and grow from almost anywhere ... even more unconventional places such as social media and AR. I'd like to think that I've made some new and important personal contacts here, not just business ones. At least on my part, they certainly feel that way and I go forward hoping that they only get stronger and more important to me. You do your good deed for the day mentioned those AR members in need. Know that many got that virtual hug and pat on the back that they most richly deserved because of your efforts here. Thank you ...

Gene

Jan 04, 2011 08:37 AM

Kim Dean

www.GoSimplyTexas.com - McKinney, TX

Simply Texas Real Estate - Broker/Owner

Mary - this was very touching! I've created some good contacts here in the 'Rain, and one or two I would indeed consider friends. Loreena Yeo being one of them - such a great inspiration and shares a good deal in common with me. I guess that's why I rave about AR so much to other agents. Until you dive in and really start putting effort into it, you won't know what you'll get.

Jan 04, 2011 08:43 AM

Renee Marrs Caperton

Marrs & Associates - Corsicana, TX

Realtor - Corsicana Texas Real Estate

Great post Mary. Well expressed. I enjoy reading post of many and it is nice to connect with AR members.

Jan 04, 2011 01:13 PM

Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES

Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL

Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living

Hi Mary, of course virtual friends can be real friends! Even before computers and the Internet, people used to have pen pals that they may have never met and those friendships would last a life time! Our human capacity to make friends is now just being aided by a different technology!

Jan 04, 2011 01:56 PM

Mary Yonkers

Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate - Erie, PA

Erie/PA Real Estate Instructor

Thanks everyone for stopping here to comment, but best of all WE ARE FRIENDS, REAL FRIENDS

Friends

Jan 05, 2011 07:10 AM

Pamela Cendejas

Second Self Virtual Assistance - Kingman, AZ

Second Self Virtual Assistance (928) 692-3235

Hi Mary - What a wonderful post! It was really touching to see how caring you are to your "virtual" friends - sending a shout out for those who could especially use a kind word. And, reminding us how important relationships are - real or virtual. (Virtual is real, too.)

Jan 10, 2011 02:35 AM