How to Make Friends Online

Posted by Polly Tech on May 18th, 2021

Your grandfather may have told you that he spotted your granny across the dance floor or that he met his best friend at a rowing club. Today people make new friends in different ways. Grandchildren of the future will be told that new friends were found in a database or spotted over several humorous posts on a forum.

How to email

Sending a first message to a prospective new friend on a website is a modern day new skill, but it is not hard to make work. Pay attention to the profile and respond with an individual message. Keep it short: you do not want to overwhelm the recipient with your full-blown CV and keep it long enough to introduce yourself, make a little conversation and end with a question that will tempt a response. Do not just write "Hi." What is "hi" supposed to mean and how would you react to this two letter "look-at-me-and-do-all-the-work" bolt hitting your inbox? Don't think "I noticed you and thought I'd say hi" is much better... Similarly, you are not likely to make friends by criticizing their spelling, saying how bored you are, but hey, they're the only one living near enough to your Dorset village. Get More Info social

How to draft your biography

Writing a few lines of text about yourself need not be difficult nor epic. Avoid the pitfalls: if spelling is not your forte, then spell-check your lines before you paste them into your biography. If you are dyslexic or blind using and audio reader, then say so. To make new friends who match your outlook, tell them what you are looking for: a dog walking buddy, running mate for a charity marathon or a budding pen friend? Avoid "I will fill this in later" as visitors to your profile may forget to check it out later too.

How to work at it

When the first few exchanges have happened and you do not get a response, don't just give up and write out of turn. If things do not work out, try anew, because that's what you would do in a room full of people as well. Not everybody gels and making new friends takes time. Whatever you do in the online world, don't just sit there and wait. Doing nothing only leads to nothing.