Thanks for your suggestions, you almost seem like friends. I am actually at the tail end of a very mild depression (which I'm being treated for) which may have warped my perceptions a little, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm wrong, psychologists often point out "normal" people see things through rose tinted glasses, they are slightly high and accordingly slightly unrealistic.

I find the problem with friendship in the real world is it is based on having things in common, being equal, "we seek ourselves in our friends" as my anthropology lecturer said.

Once there are differences, in ability, finances, etc envy and attacks seem to start.

I wonder if things like facebook are so popular because people seem the same, differences are not visible, we may be projecting ourselves onto them.

One difference which is visible on facebook is how many "friends" you have which may be partly why I hate it. There's hardly any other intereaction on the net I don't like.