Hang on, how has this issue not been bought up. You met some people on an app and they're now your mates now?
Surely to be a 'mate' you have to have some kind of historical relationship for a period of time prior?
Has society changed where you now find someone on the internet and they're automatically now your mate?
I am ridiculously insecure and have some pretty self deprecating thoughts most of the time and just assume everyone hates me so am never confident to call people friends out loud because like i said i assume everyone hates me.
But, we are now in the age of the internet, mobile phones and on-line gaming and the world interacts differently.
Can you only be friends with people you see? multiple years on a forum, interacting daily, can that not be some form of relationship? If say Strider and Eelementary say they are mates, is that wrong because they have never met face to face? They know enough about each other to consider themselves friends, they have something pretty damn strong as a basis for friendship, they both love the Eels.
People get married without ever seeing each other even though they may have been chatting on-line for years and then relocate to other countries and live happy lives together and start families etc.