by AlishaV

Created on: February 19, 2009

The Internet can be a great way of making new friends. It allows you to connect with people you may never have met and people you may never have thought of becoming friends with. You don't normally get to meet people from India, Ireland, and Portugal all in one day, but it's very possible on the Internet where everyone is just an email away. On the Internet, visible differences can fade and everyone can be who they really are without skin color, disabilities, or appearances causing people to view someone as other than they are. People can also pretend to be someone other than who they actually are, so always be careful on the Internet and don't just believe that people are who they say they are. Even while being cautious, many deep friendships have begun online and the next one could be yours.

One way to make friends on the Internet is to use a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace. These sites are set up to connect people who are already friends and make it easier for them to communicate with each other but they are also an easy way to search for people to become friends with. Look up old friends you may have lost touch with, search for people who went to the same school as you, and find people who live nearby using their search feature. Most people try and accumulate as many friends as possible on these sites so often it's fairly easy to make connections and with a little effort on your side you'll often be able to make these into real friendships.

Another way to find people that you can make friends with other people on the Internet is to join a micro-blogging service such as Twitter and Plurk which allows you to send updates to everyone who is following you. To find people you can follow and maybe become friends with sign up for the free service and then use the search function to find people with similar interests or that just appear interesting. These are also sites where most people consider having lots of friends or followers a good thing. Commenting frequently on other people's posts will usually lead to real conversations, both on the site and eventually through email, which will eventually evolve into a real friendship.

Groups and message boards are perhaps the most wonderful way of making friends online. Think about your passion, whether it is your job, a certain book, your love of Snuggies, or a hobby, and then look for a group or message board devoted to that subject. Some popular sites that have groups on many subjects are Yahoo Groups

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