Traditionally bingo has always been a community-based social game, set in central locations such as church halls to service the locals as an alternative to other social venues.

With online bingo taking the world by storm, many are asking whether this vital part of the game is being lost as people stay home and play alone.

So, is online bingo the road to social alienation or a path lined with new friendships?

While there is a perception that online interaction is taking people away from reality and isolating them from real relationships, we believe the opposite to be true – online bingo can open up a world of possible new relationships with people near and far, allowing you to interact with and meet players from around the world that you would never have had the opportunity of meeting by playing down the local community hall.

It has to be said; any form of online activity can become addictive to the point where individuals exclude the people around them. However, in many cases the opposite is true of the online communities which have formed throughout cyberspace. It is not uncommon for groups who have met online to meet up in the real world in safe situations, transforming cyber friendships into face-to-face relationships.

Bingo, specifically, is a game which still tends to appeal more to women than men. The majority of these women, according to statistics, are in the 40-plus age group. Today, it is not always safe for women to be out and about late at night alone – a sad but true reality of life. With so many single and divorced people out there, many of whom have children who can not be left alone at night, the appeal of the online bingo community is understandable.

At the end of a long day, when work is done, the kids are in bed and the kitchen is cleared, rather than having to pay a babysitter and get dressed up, or even simply ‘vegging’ in front of the television, the exciting, friendly world of the bingo chat rooms beckons like a friendly home-away-from-home. A mere click away are games to be played, money to be won, and most of all friends from around the world to laugh, chat, share and joke with – day or night.

It has been proven that the chatroom aspect of the online bingo games is the biggest draw card for many players. This was clearly indicated when sites that cut out the chatting had players leaving in droves for alternative sites where they could interact with others.

Online bingo and the associated social aspect is a godsend for people who are either too shy too venture out alone, or who for reasons of health, disability or other circumstances are unable to leave home easily.

Online relationships are a revelation – they occur without the socially awkward barriers as people feel free to chat openly, forming close ties much more quickly than in the real world.

Insomniacs also find the online community a great place to ‘hang out’ in the small hours, as there is bound to be someone from across the globe up and awake, looking for some interaction.

So we conclude that bingo sites are in fact more often than not an excellent way to interact socially, and not the death-knell to friendships that the nay-sayers would have us believe.