Hellobee Boards

I think it depends on how you define "close" relationship.

There's another bee that I "met" through another board years ago. We've met twice in person in the last three years (once for dinner when I was near her, once for lunch when she was near me).

But we maintain regular email contact and I consider her a pretty close friend! Some might argue we aren't that close since we're rarely physically there for each other, but she's one of the first people I share big news with.

I do think there's a difference with being friends only though a message board or similar platform vs. being friends who keep up with each other regularly one on one.

Not on Hellobee, but I definitely have people I consider among my best friends who I met and built a relationship with online. There are five of us - we all met through a posting board in the late 90s, have moved to email, and have talked almost every day for about 18 years. We've met up occasionally - one of them was a bridesmaid at my wedding, I've attended theirs, two of them drove from Washington for the weekend to attend my bridal shower, etc - but our relationship is almost entirely virtual.

@SweetiePie: yassssss

I've met a few local Bees, but I've never met @Smurfette and definitely consider her a close friend! We've e-mailed, texted, and exchange Christmas cards. She's also one of the few Hellobee ladies I've exchanged FB info with (I'm very private). I definitely think you can have close relationships with someone without having physically met them!

My Oct. 13 mom group is in a group chat and we text multiple times a day. I've met two of them in person (one a few weeks ago at my DD's birthday party) and I consider them some of my closest friends. I'm also part of a running board and I've met a lot of them and driven to group meets for races before.

I have an online village of 20 other moms that have embryo donor conceived children like me. We have a Facebook group, chat in the Marco Polo app, text etc. I have met a couple in person already. We are planning a mom’s weekend for next April.

I’ve made friends via HB too!

I had a really close group of mom's with DD way back in 2013. We have since drifted but I am still really close with 2 of them. I have met one in person. We message daily.

Under the circumstances, I think so - I mean, most of us are busy and for me, that means getting used to keeping in touch with most friends only through the digital world. Meeting in person is a struggle no matter how dear that person is to me. So... online friendships don't feel odd to me at all.

We have an active March 15 Moms group. While I consider all of them virtual friends-@lazb is one of my close friends and we have never met.

@vegmama referred me to HB. But she’s my BFF IRL. Occasionally we interact on the boards.

There are people like you that I consider chat board buddies. Some gals from HB I follow on IG and message there or FB but @lazb is the only one I talk to on the phone.

@SweetiePie: haha I didn't get an email alert even though you tagged me? but I clicked on this thread to say the same about you

I still want to do a NYC bees meetup that I'm too lazy to coordinate myself.

I met 3 Bees and some of their LOs a little more than 2 years ago. It was SO a wonderful to meet those ladies in real life and we stay in contact off of HB. One of them even introduced me to a woman who was living near me, and she and I became good friends. I also email fairly regularly with a very sweet lady who isn’t around much anymore, but we can really confide in one another. I also follow a number of Bees on IG and I love knowing more about people and watching their little families grow. I would love to meet more Bees, but we live so far away from just about everyone in the community.

@youboots: your photography is so beautiful and inspiring!