How to use social media to make new friends
When the internet and personal computers first starting gaining prominence in the everyday household, people were first enamoured by the simple email, connecting them with friends and family around the world with just the click of a button. Soon after people would turn to chat rooms and instant messengers to meet new friends and join in conversations around topics of interest.
Emerging next came the first social networking sites such as Bebo and MySpace, where you could create your own personal profile to make those interactions more personal and private. Fast forward a couple of years and now sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn reign supreme. Facebook itself had more than 1.1 billion users as of March 2013 making it the largest social media network in the world.
So, how do you use social media to make new friends? Here are 4 simple tips:
Network through existing channels
First thing is first, start by finding and connecting with people you already know. Most social media networks will allow you to search your email address book to find existing contacts already using those sites. Once connected, you can comment, share and engage with that person and their friends, where you can begin to make mutual friends along the way.
Find long lost friends
Another thing you can do, is search for old childhood or work friends. Sometimes this might be hard if they have changed their name (through marriage or other circumstance) but sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have enabled searches to also include maiden or former names if the person has listed it.
Join a group
Follow pages and join groups of interest. You can do this by searching the name of the group or area of interest within the network itself, otherwise if you enjoy a particular website check there to see if they have links to their official social media pages.
From here, comment and engage in conversations. This is how you make friend’s offline, so follow the same methodology online! If you see yourself getting along with someone in particular, you can direct message them to continue the conversation more privately. If you decide this person would be a great new friend, a friend or follow request could follow.
Offline networking
Turn your offline acquaintances into online friends! This is great for travellers and those who get out and about a lot. At the end of the day (say its wine tasting) ask any new found friends if you could find them on Facebook to stay in touch. It’s really taking pen pals to a whole new level!