If you feel like you could use some more friends in your lif,e but you aren’t sure where to find new friends, you may want to try looking online. How do you go about finding friends online? Well, here are some ideas, courtesy of Yizzly.com.
Where to Find New Friends
Start out by looking in the right place, and social media platforms make it easy to find new people to connect with. Facebook shows you people you might know, as well as people who are friends of your friends. Instagram gives you suggestions for who to follow. Try accepting some of those suggestions and see where it leads.
You can also use online chat groups, or community forums to meet new people online. Check out gaming forums like those on IGN, if you are into video games, or online art communities like DeviantArt, if you like to draw.
Make a Connection
It’s easy to find people, but it’s much harder to spark up a friendship. Here are a few tips that can help you get started:
- Introduce Yourself – Using a short introductory statement, say something about yourself that is interesting, and let the other person know you are looking for similar individuals to be friends with.
- Share – Send them a funny meme, or link that you think they might be interested in.
- Invite – Try to engage the other person by inviting them to a game or to join a community event online.
Keep the Friendship Going
It can be difficult to make a new friendship last more than a couple of conversations. Here is what you can do to ensure the friendship lasts:
- Reply with more than a few words at a time.
- Message your new friends at least a couple times a week.
- Don’t get too personal too fast.
- Avoid topics that the other person seems sensitive to, or that tend to start arguments. Be really careful about bringing up religion or politics unless you can do so cordially.
- Engage in social activities with one another- go to events, even online events together, play a game online, work on a project together, or have a video chat.
- Respect boundaries and give the other person space when they seem uncomfortable or when they are not responding. If you are a pushy friend who doesn’t respect boundaries, you can scare the other person off.
Online friendships can be just as meaningful and long lasting as friendships with people in the physical world. Just remember that the people you meet online are individuals as well, and you should try to treat them like you would someone you are talking to face to face. If you can manage that, it will be easy to make friends online and maintain those friendships.
