Image: HERE

I've been blogging for nearly two and a half years, now, and - as I'm sure is the case for a lot of bloggers - I've made some really incredible friends in that time, through my blog, through British Style Bloggers, and through various blogging communities. But, as a child of the internet generation, I always have that wariness in the back of my mind, no matter what.

When I first mentioned to my parents that I wanted to meet up with Rachel Phipps at Clothes Show London two years ago, I was seventeen, and I think that, initially, they'd have preferred me to tell them that I was in trouble because I was doing hard drugs, or that I was a secret alcoholic. For people of my generation, meeting up with people you know online in the real world is almost more taboo than drug abuse or whatever; it's something you just don't do.

Because people you meet online are, of course, all forty-something male perverts, out to get impressionable young girls, and with no interest in your life beyond the sexual.

At my leaving party last month: my friend Hannah, me, and Rachel Charlton, whom I met through BSB

Honestly, though? I think that it's time that bloggers started smashing that stereotype. I've made some truly incredible friends for life through blogging, and I've also met some truly inspirational people whom I will never forget. In all honesty, were it not for my friendship with Rachel C, I don't think that either of us would have got through the past year and a half in one piece.

Obviosuly, though, my friendships aren't the end of it: look at British blogging's new "power duo" - Susie and Sherin - who met through the internet and have since clearly become firm friends, or any number of other bloggers. It's an amazing thing, knowing that in almost any city in thr country, you have a friend you could meet up with and a way of making connections.

A bunch of the girls at the BSB meet up last summer - photo thanks to Carla

I don't know about you, but I always feel a twinge of guilt when I introduce my blogging friends to my "real world" friends, as I wait for someone to, inevitably, ask "so, how did you guys meet, then?"

And, after that initial twinge of guilt, I feel guilty for feeling guilty: there is nothing to be ashamed of in having friends I met through blogging. I am doing something positive with my spare time, and I am meeting incredible people and getting to do amazing things with them. Through blogging, I've been to so many events and done so much wonderful stuff that, to be honest, I should feel ashamed that I don't shout it from the rooftops - not that it's helped me make friends.

So, next time someone questions a friendship you make through blogging, stand your ground. Smile, make eye contact, and let them know that you're right. You're a grown woman (or man!), making life decisions for yourself, in an informed way. You're not being stupid (and not everyone on line is a pervert). You're having fun - and anyone who begrudges you that has a serious problem.

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From the 13th of this month, I will be living in Canberra, Australia, for a year. I'll still be working with BSB, splitting editorial duties with Rachel C, 50/50 - and we hope that it'll work out just fine! :)

You can follow my Aussie adventure at www.australasia-dreaming.com or www.twitter.com/_amyct