In a digital world, it has become increasingly easy to make friends online and meet new people through this venue. It can initially be difficult to get to know people online. After all, they have limited tools to express themselves. You can’t see their expressions or body language as they are speaking (er, typing.) And it’s also easy for us to misinterpret simple things such as avatars and other similar images. However, there are also lots of advantages to having online friends. Here are a few rules of the game.
If you want to make friends, you must initiate conversation. Don’t expect people to just fall into your world. Even in the real world, no friendships are started until someone makes the first move. If there are people, bloggers, writers, or whoever that you admire online, you must make contact and reach out to them first if you want to start building a friendship.
Start by showing strong support for their work. Retweet them, “like” them. Sign up for their site newsletter or eBook. Do everything you can to show support and then reach out in a more personal way. This also lets them know you’re not some freak.
Most people are more than happy to respond to a friendly “hello”. However, if someone doesn’t respond, you can’t take it personally. Some people truly are busy. Some people just don’t have time or receive too much fan mail. Sometimes they might overlook an email. Whatever the case, if you don’t get an answer, feel free to try again. Just keep everything in perspective and consider it their loss if they aren’t interested in a friendship.
Part of maintaining an online friendship is maintaining that connection. Once you have chatted back and forth with someone, make that connection often. This doesn’t have to take up lots of time. But a simple note can speak volumes.
And then you should also keep up with your social networking accounts. If you tweet something and then don’t check your account for months, your “virtual friends” are going to start to lose interest. Make sure that you keep up with your social accounts, respond to messages, and that sort of thing. After all, if you don’t, your online connections will start to forget about you. This is the only part of you that they know.
Often, when a friendship is lasting, it is a nice gesture to take it live. If you have common interests, for instance, chat via Skype. You might gain advice from a mentor, or as a mentor benefit from an admiring fan. Sometimes a virtual friendship might suddenly go live when your friend happens to stop in the area you live, making it convenient to meet.
Do keep in mind that there is an element of danger when you are dealing with strangers on the Internet. Apart from well-known individuals, keep in mind that you really don’t know who you are dealing with, and it’s always smart to play safe. Never give out personal information to anyone, and never meet for the first time in a private setting.
