Facebook Romance | Teen Ink

Facebook Romance

January 18, 2013
By LittleRedRidingHood SILVER, Edinburgh, Other
LittleRedRidingHood SILVER, Edinburgh, Other
6 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
Martin Luther


Kindred Friend- Hi Web Girl! I’ve looked at your profile, and I can see that we have a lot in common. I'm fourteen as well and I enjoy basketball too, so I think that we should start chatting.
Like • Comment • Share
1 December at 12:11

Web Girl- I suppose we could try, but I'm not making any promises because facebook-chats with strangers don't tend to work. I confess I haven't tried before, but in real life I don't make friends easily. Most boys find me boring; I don't see why you would be any different.
Like • Comment • Share 8 December at 13:12

Kindred Friend- I agree that most boys are jerks. I’ve got an older sister and she’s always complaining about boys. I think many boys think the same about girls. (No offence!) Have you heard the expression “men are from Mars and women are from Venus”? I think that we look at the other sex a bit like at a different species. Or the way a different species looks at us. Imagine how we must look to badgers and insects! I think it’s because girls and boys are very different, of course not to the extreme of different species, but they mature at different paces, and generally view things very differently.
Like • Comment • Share 13 December at 16:24

Web Girl- I suppose we are a bit like a different species. But then, it's like I'm a unique species, and everyone else is the same - and I'm the odd one out. I don't get on with my classmates- that's why I thought that nothing would work with you. I dread school the evening before. I dread having to eat my lunch in the toilet because of the looks that I get when I approach the cafeteria. The sniggers when I answer a question in class- even when it's right. Academically I'm fine, but I would exchange my academic success for being accepted at school by my peers a million times over.
Like • Comment • Share 15 December at 12:11

Kindred Friend- Don't get upset over them. If it was someone close to you behaving like that then that would be a reason to worry, but they're just people at your school. You're not going to spend your whole life with them. You can't please everyone. And you shouldn't even try, because it may work now, but most certainly won’t when you're older. Try to find one close friend who you can confide in and trust.
Like • Comment • Share 15 December at 17:23

Web Girl- That’s easier said than done. I’ve been searching for that friend for years. I want someone to be there when I get my lunch stuffed in the bin. When upturned pins are left on my seat. Many people see that happening every day. And no-one says a word. Maybe that friend exists in your world. A world of popularity and confidence. But it doesn’t exist in mine.
Like • Comment • Share 17 December at 15:49

Kindred Friend- You’re right that that friend is hard to find. A true friend maybe harder to find than a wife or a husband. But look around you at the friendships you see at school and ask yourself: How many of them last? How many of those so-called friends have you heard calling each other names behind each other’s back which are worse than knives? I don’t call that friendship. A friendship is when you trust the other person, and they trust you back. You care what happens to them. And they’re always there for you. You may think that everyone has someone like that except you. Some might have dozens by your count. But those are not true friends.
Like • Comment • Share 17 December at 17:22

Web Girl- I can't thank you enough for your advice. You have given me confidence, and for the first time in a very, very long time I feel like I can let my guard down. I have grown to trust you. To care for you. I don't feel alone any more. In my first letter I didn't believe that this would work because I thought that you wouldn't be interested in me. That you would be like the kids at school. But you're special. It's so important to have another human being to talk to. Who understands you. And now that you've entered my life, I feel alive again. I have finally found the friend that is talked about in books. Someone special who I can come home to and talk to. Someone who understands. I have never been so grateful to anyone before. I have never felt at home before. I'm despised at school and I don't feel at comfortable with my family. You have become my new family. I have never dared to tell people so much about my feelings, but I'm writing this to you because I trust you. I know that you would never hurt me and will always be there for me.
I need to go to my basketball session now, but I'll write to you as soon as I get back. I have something very important to tell you.
Like • Comment • Share • 2 Hours ago

Kindred Friend- Dear Web Girl,
A number of months ago, you were selected at random to test our new program ‘Kindred Friend’ which imitates human conversations. We are pleased to tell you that it has been a success and we would be grateful if you commented on it. This is a scientific breakthrough and we invite you to share your personal experience with the program with us.
Yours sincerely,
Kenneth Davis



























Kindred Friend






















6 Walker Street



























Edinburgh

























EH7 4LE
0131 664 8989






Like • Comment • Share • 25 Minutes ago


The author's comments:
I read an article discussing the possibility that in the future there will be a robot invented which can think like a human. Then I thought that if that happened, we might not always be able to see the difference between a robot and a human. From that I got the idea of someone being tricked into believing that someone who they thought was their friend, someone they confided in and trusted, was just a computer program.

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This article has 3 comments.


on Feb. 3 2013 at 6:55 am
LittleRedRidingHood SILVER, Edinburgh, Other
6 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
Martin Luther

Thanks! The  last few lines were meant to be the contact details of the computer program writer, his address, telephone number e.t.c But for some reason it got published with big spaces in between each piece of information.

on Feb. 2 2013 at 9:21 pm
aladine_98 SILVER, Hemet, California
8 articles 0 photos 69 comments
Well that was certainly an interesting topic! I've never understood the appeal to only knowing someone through social media. But putting that aside, I liked how you put the "like, comment, share"s at the bottom of each message. It reminded you exactly what you were looking at. I was sad at the end when I realized it was all artificial... But could you please explain the last few lines to me? I didn't understand them. :)

on Feb. 2 2013 at 2:42 pm
Yhalainen BRONZE, Edinburgh, Other
2 articles 0 photos 9 comments
A most appealing story with a sad and unexpected ending. Even if I really wanted to, I would struggle to find something to critisize.