I have written a few times about the Hashtag Games I run on The Twitterer [as I call it].

You can read some more about that in Get your Hashtag on and The Rise (and rise) of @AFrikkinHashtag.

One aspect which I haven’t written much about is the crew of people who help me run the games. They are officially called The UnNamed Ones and are made up mostly of people who have volunteered to co-host Hashtag Games with me in the past. We have a DM hangout space called AFH on the Twitterer and the joke is that they are paid in buckets of cheerful banter as there really is a lot of that in there.

But it has also been one of the most fun, loving and supportive communities I have been in outside of the church.

YOU CAN’T MAKE VIRTUAL FRIENDS

That’s been the line, right? You can’t really build relationships online. Yet I would strongly disagree with that. Some of my strongest friendships began online, whether on Facebook or the Twitterer. Just a few weeks ago I met my friend Sindile (from Johannesburg) live for the first time after being virtual friends for two years – in that time he wrote posts for my blog, he challenged me on numerous times through his deep thinking on political and spiritual matters and made me laugh countlessly through his musings on life and relationships and more.

But coming back to the AFH room. We have members from South Africa, Holland, Australia, Americaland, Canada and the United Kingdom. I may even be leaving someone out but that’s already six countries right there, and we have built such a tight knit and fun community.

I can’t even keep up most of the time because there is just so much conversation that goes on in there. So it’s kinda become like an online virtual lounge where friends hang out. Just yesterday I wandered in to be confronted with music video link after music video link. Turns out the crew were sharing some of their favourite songs with each other.

When people have been going through rough times there has been concern and prayer (there are people from all walks of life and beliefs and experiences). This group of people who have never met each other have somehow managed to create a space where people feel welcomed and loved, appreciated and celebrated.

FRIENDS WITH SKIN

Don’t get me wrong. I still believe that live beats virtual and I look forward to a day when we can have an Afrikkin Hashtag team reunion in South Africa and get to meet face to face. But I do want to suggest that we shouldn’t limit life and what we see as “more real” to the things that are only in front of us.

Sometimes it can be super helpful to get someone from another country’s perspective on a problem your country is facing.

Sometimes it can be really great to have a space with people you aren’t going to see face to face to just be able to unburden yourself and share your worries or fears.

And like the old TV sitcom, Cheers theme used to belt out, sometimes it is great to have a place “Where everybody knows your name”.

How about you? Have you found a community online that has served as a friendship crew for you? I know some people see that in gaming circles, others through YouTube platforms and still others through Facebook groups or Twitterer lists.

Did you ever meet up with someone face to face that you first became friends with online? Share your story in the comments below.