Can you remember being 10 years old? You want to fit in and being different is rarely something positive. Imagine feeling like no one around understands you, so you turn to the internet – you are bound to find someone who is alike.

The 3 best things about having an online friend:

• Be accepted for who you are

You choose your online friends. You are not just grouped together and forced to hang out. Online friendships often start with sharing interests and discussing them among similarly minded people. Some topics can be hard to talk about with people that know your friends in school. With an online friend it can be easier for your kid to open up about more difficult topics without being afraid of judgement.

• Distance is no challenge

On the internet, it doesn’t matter if your kid’s friend lives around the corner, in the same city or a thousand miles away. They don’t have to physically see each other all the time to be friends. Some online friends never meet each other but are still very much a part of each other lives. Isn’t that amazing?

• Always around

The feeling of having a friend around as a support system is incredibly reassuring. The communication takes place in chats, in apps and the friend is very much present in the smartphone in your kid’s pocket. Online friendships are as valid as the offline ones and can help kids feel less lonely.

Did you know that finding friends is most kids’ top priority on Momio? If your kid meets a friend online – be happy, interested and curious! Of course you want to make sure that the person is who they say they are and not a bad influence, just like you would if your child met someone new at school. Online and offline lives intertwine more and more and for most kids the where they meet new friends is less important than the fact that they have found someone.