How to Find
Friendship and Romance Online
Introduction
Online forums and special interest groups can put you in
contact with like-minded people who may become your friends. One of them could be your soul mate.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Steps
1
Step One
Join an established Internet service provider such as America Online, the Microsoft Network or EarthLink.
2
Step Two
Browse slowly through the various online interest groups, looking for those with message boards that appeal to singles.
3
Step Three
Choose a few forums that focus on matchmaking or on one of your interests. Visit them and read the messages (or "posts") on the message boards.
4
Step Four
Find an area that appeals to you and go there regularly.
5
Step Five
Post a message of your own after getting a sense of the interaction. Keep your posts brief and humble at first; soon you will be communicating with the regulars and forming friendships.
6
Step Six
Let it be known that you''re single and looking, along with your location and age.
7
Step Seven
Ask the regulars about any particular love interest you have found.
8
Step Eight
Use e-mail and chat sessions to get to know an appealing person better.
9
Step Nine
Attend a forum-hosted party in order to meet your potential sweetheart if it is possible or practical. If not, plan a real date in a public place.
Tips & Warnings
Host a party yourself if your forum friends do not get together at parties, and meet some of those people you have been attracted to online.
Pay close attention to the way your romantic partner interacts with other group
members.
Remember that common interests are great, but having a relationship with your mirror image would probably be boring.
Avoid online feuds and battles. Personal attacks, also called "flaming," can get vicious in forums where strong feelings and beliefs are expressed.
If you form a romantic attachment to someone in the group, do not announce this to the other members until after you have met your partner in person.
Common philosophical or political views will not always get the two of you past the "chemistry test."