It never really occurred to me I might just not have those specific social skills nailed down. 😅 Because irl, I have plenty of ease chatting people up and making new friends. Same with dating or professional networking, it all comes naturally in person.

But online, in writing, it’s so awkward for me. I see folks make long term friendships just hanging out in group chats or discord servers. Meanwhile, I manage to just get into arguments and not really manage to share anything interesting about myself otherwise. I might just not be finding my people, but who knows where that is right?

Anyone got pro tips for making friends in text chats or forums?

  • Dookieman12@piefed.social
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    18 days ago

    Take jokes seriously. Put words in people’s mouths. Make wild accusations. Make sweeping generalizations. Be obtuse. Grossly oversimplify. Refuse to empathize. And, most importantly, don’t consider new ideas and never change your mind.

    • TeaWithDani@lemmy.worldOP
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      18 days ago

      Oh I have been doing that! Why did you say it would work for me? Are you out to get me? All these comments are the same. UGH! I should have known it all came down to this one thing. I don’t understand why people struggle with this. I’ll keep doing the same then.

      /s lol

  • missingno@fedia.io
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    18 days ago

    Play niche indie/retro multiplayer games, join a community small and tight-knit enough that everybody knows everybody, so you can easily become a regular in the scene.

  • dragon-donkey3374@sh.itjust.works
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    18 days ago

    I don’t even know how to make friends irl. Even on a gaming discord channel, I’ll see people in the voice chat playing a game I’m playing and be like, ‘If I go in there, what am I going to say? I have nothing to say. I don’t even know these people. Fuck it, I’m not going in there. I’m going to play on my own, fuck them, those fucking assholes.’

    And then nothing changes.

  • Sips'@slrpnk.net
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    18 days ago

    You absolutely can! I played Dayz for over 12 years, and have met counltess people during that time some of which i still play games with today. Its a great game to get to know people if thats what you’re looking for. However the learning curve for the game is steeper than others.

    If youre not aware Dayz is open world, zombie apocalyptic game. The great part about the game lies in communication, you have to talk via voice comms, otherwise you’re very likely to get shot on the spot… The game can absolutely be infuriating at times, but personally it is the game i have the most fun memories from. Nothing beats the adrenaline kick when you and your friends get into a firefight and have to fight to not die.

    Best of luck if you try it out. If you want to have a look at some gameplay before trying, check out TheRunningmanZ on YT.

    • TeaWithDani@lemmy.worldOP
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      17 days ago

      I played it when standalone came out. I enjoyed the feeling it gave you of walking out alone in the woods, orienting yourself on landmarks and stuff. Mostly avoided players and did my thing though lol

      • Sips'@slrpnk.net
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        15 days ago

        Good ol times ye! Just fyi in case you’re ot up to speed. The game has changed a lot since then, new engine and all. Everything for the better imo.

  • cRazi_man@europe.pub
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    18 days ago

    I’ve only managed to make it work a handful of times.

    There needs to be a connection to something IRL from the online community. Maybe you like the same music, hobby or even playing games (that might be online but it is a “doing” action in person). It should also be something positive. You aren’t going to make healthy connections from “anti-something” communities.

    Communities like Lemmy/Reddit are particularly bad for this since they’re predicated on anonymous sharing and not really keeping you in touch with a group of repeat contacts.

    You must have enough free time to end up online and shoot the shit in a direct conversation. Maybe an online chat or voice chat or Discord or something. You can’t really make friends easily with asynchronous contact.

    I saw a comment about friendship long ago and I have never been able to find it again. It said something like: to be friends you must share at least two things out of this list: stage in life, physical proximity, common interest, shared predicament (e.g. job)… There were a couple of other factors I can’t remember, but the more I think about it this seems to hold true.

    Eventually the connection you make needs to be bigger than how you meet. If you meet while playing DotA, and then you stop playing DotA, is there still any glue that holds you together that would push you to keeping connected through a different medium?

    I’ve tried to make efforts to make friends a few times online. It has never worked from trying. People on Lemmy even express interest in a social chat group and I made one. No one ever joined. Well, one person did but lost interest in a couple of days. Good luck in your endevours. Share tips if you succeed.

  • warm@kbin.earth
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    18 days ago

    Making friends through text can be hard. Obviously you want to be in a space where people share the same interest as you, as a common interest you can discuss.

    If you play video games, it’s a lot easier the break that ground. Chatting to people in-game is a good way to make friends as you always have a bounce back topic as you learn more about each other.

    Typing sucks, I always use voice or ask someone if they want to. So much easier to gauge someone that way. But online gaming has become more anti-social over the last 5+ years.

    • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      The games can be hit or miss depending how serious it gets. I personally haven’t been on discord as much cause my friends are gaming and doing call outs and clearly focused on that meanwhile id rather actually catch up, shoot the shit and stuff. Its lame getting old.

  • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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    18 days ago

    In forums and chats, go places where you can ask questions as much as you can tell people why they’re wrong.

    The way to make friends with people is to listen to them.

    • TeaWithDani@lemmy.worldOP
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      18 days ago

      Yeah, questions are always less confrontational. It’s also a good equalizer, especially if you show you aren’t scared to appear foolish. Puts people at ease I think. Gives them the space to explain their thinking rather than defend themselves.

  • trashcroissant
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    18 days ago

    Same tbh. I don’t have any tips but would love to learn! I’m also awful at keeping long distance friendships unless they’re okay to just exchange memes every day.

    • cRazi_man@europe.pub
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      18 days ago

      unless they’re okay to just exchange memes every day

      Dude… Be my friend!! In fact, if it’s going to be a daily stream of quality memes then that’s more marriage material for me, let’s go!

  • Untamed_Star
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    17 days ago

    I don’t have friends, at least not online nor offline and I am usually the one to talk the ones I have offline but that stuff is real complicated because of various reasons.