I did not mention my own experience. I will say, by way of preface, that I have found it much easier to maintain communication with someone via videochat than I have by phone or in person. I have made a number of new friends over the internet since I’ve been sick. During the first phase of my sickness, I was unable to lift the phone or reach out to anyone in a normal way. Videochat, chat and email were much easier for me to do.
I think it helped that I was anonymous, too, since I could reach out to someone knowing that if they started to judge me, I could drop them without any consequence of note.
So I made friends—maybe even more than I have in real life—and used videochat. In a way, you have to, because otherwise you’ll never see them. My friends are all at least 1000 miles away. It is wonderful to see their faces while they talk. The communication is so much richer. And it makes a huge difference when someone says they are worried about you and seeing the worry on their face.
I have also maintained communication with my sister who lives in China. I see her from time to time, or talk to her for free over the internet. I wonder when gmail is going to stop with the free videochat or phone calling.
Anyway, my real life friends have dropped away because we don’t talk much… or at all… any more. Not since I told them I was sick. Although they were kind of falling away before, anyway. Sometimes I wonder if I would have any friends at all if it weren’t for videochat. I know I’d have a few, but certainly not as many.