Do you have an easier time making friends online or irl?

[Oldcatlady]

I'm absolutely horrible at making friends online, especially in groups. I just never log on social media long enough to maintain conversations and respond in intervals, sometimes once a day so I get lost in the conversations. x-x I find it easier to go up to someone irl and get their number to text for the first couple days then gradually hang out more. I also like to join groups/clubs/volunteering and meet people that way. Being in school makes you naturally interact with others too so that helps me a lot

 

[Cheryll]

For me, online. I suck at socializing, so them seeing me in real life is a mess. :/

 

[John Wick]

In real life, I have made certain friends that will always be friends even if years go by without seeing them.

They aren't very social and neither am I.

I'm more comfortable talking on a forum than a phone.

 

[Midoriya]

Both! My answer is both! I’m just genuinely a kind and humble person and go about things my own way in life, so people are drawn to me both online and IRL and I find it easy to make friends. There’s only a select few I would consider best friends, however...

 

[Halloqueen]

I find making friends online to be a bit easier than making friends in real life. I've always been a quiet, timid person, and this is especially true when in a new situation, meeting new people for the first time. Those aren't particularly good attributes in real world scenarios. I also don't feel that I'm the best at speaking, and have always preferred to express things through writing. Considering that a lot of stuff online is conveyed through text, you can see how I would find online to be preferable.

That said, I am not good at actually getting to know people in big online groups or communities. They don't even have to be especially large groups; it could be something like 7 people, and if I only know one or two of the people then I'm still going to have to get settled in and lurk for a while before I can actually get to know the others. I need to observe personalities and demeanor and all of that. I'm in favor of quality over quantity when it comes to friendships, so that combined with my timidity means that my friend pool is probably smaller than others' are. That is fine by me though, I would rather have few, close, genuine friends than have a bunch of fair-weather friends who I don't really gel with.

 

[hamster]

i used to be able to make online friends much easier but now i make irl friends much easier

 

[Alienfish]

I'll say online, how cheesy it might sound is another side of the coin. Mostly because it's easier finding nerds alike and that want to talk about other things than weather or dead languages lol.

 

[Hat']

I liked both! I'm much comfortable online of course, even though I can get very uncomfortable in kinda cringy situation online, I still am very much more at ease. But I like it in real life too! I guess you could say I'm a bit funny so I can approach people I want quite easily, but most of the time I just don't because I don't want new acquaintances. I also make friend with my friend's friends or people who seem very nice overrall, so, girls, mostly.

 

[namiieco]

i find it so much harder online maybe because i cant see the person and who they really are? and that they can just leave without saying anything makes me relucant to try and make genuine friendships

not like i find it easy to make friends irl either though lol

 

[Circus]

It's so much easier to make friends online. I don't have to stress too much about sounding weird or trying to combine two phrases and it coming out as absolute nonsense. It's easier when they're behind a screen because you can't see them, and that helps me think that they're not judging me as much. I hate talking to people, even immediate family. Thanksgiving was a nightmare, I said only like five words.

Yeah, I'm really social like that.

 

[Cynicat]

honestly im awkward everywhere

 

[Alienfish]

Also to clarify what I mean with my post, most people I meet IRL are either really superficial or just not sharing my interests so it's like I know nothing about ur dead language research can i go lol

 

[LadyDestani]

It's hard for me to make friends anywhere. I'm not the type of person who can approach someone else and start a conversation. That goes for real life and online. Even with people I know well, I will spend hours planning out what to say if I need to talk to them about something. I can respond to others when they initiate a conversation with me, but I will very rarely start a conversation on my own, even with my closest friends or family.

I do have an easier time communicating online because of the anonymity and because I prefer writing over verbal communication. I can think through my responses and don't feel as panicked, but I still don't make many friends either way.

 

[Snowesque]

Online I guess. It is easier to find people interested in the same things? I have not really been to places outside of the internet pertaining to my interests unfortunately.

 

[cornimer]

I clicked IRL by mistake but that was absolutely not what I meant Definitely online, I have made several friends on this site in a couple of years but only one acquaintance in four years of university (we talk in class a lot but never outside of school). It's much easier online when you can just jump in a discord group and slowly get to know people through there. I also am able to "talk" better when I have more time to think and type out my thoughts, rather than stumbling through in the moment.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Even with people I know well, I will spend hours planning out what to say if I need to talk to them about something. I can respond to others when they initiate a conversation with me, but I will very rarely start a conversation on my own, even with my closest friends or family.

This describes me pretty well. You're not alone!

 

[BeardosFangirl]

Online is definitely easier, but my childhood was robbed from me by mental illness, so I'm pretty underdeveloped emotionally. So the odds of me saying rude or unintentionally awkward are about triple, even online.

 

[Sweetley]

Ah, I voted accidentally for the wrong option. For me, it's both online and IRL not easy making friends. I'm just too shy...

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

i dont have much trouble making friends irl but i have issues when it comes to establishing a connection, especially when i dont actually see them irl that often. making online friends is much harder for me now but they tend to be much more interesting to talk to

 

[lord]

I got a pretty volatile personality but i dont think i have trouble making friends, surprised i have any tho. KEEPING them is the problem. same thing online

 

[Mayor Monday]

I don't really make friends, more so just acquaintances. I love talking to people and being there for them when they need it- both online and in real life- but I never make concrete friends. All my life I've been like this.