Just post and get to know other people more, and you'll make internet buddies.

Also, look for the pastries thread. I'll bump it.

I have visited this forum the past couple of years, but no one knows me either :shrug:
Just be yourself, and don't be afraid of making contact with people, you'll be fine. (in RL I mean)

EDIT; I myself also don't really know anyone. I know this one guy has some crazy obsession with that one pokemon, and there's that guy with a pulp-fiction-monkey avatar. But yeah, that's about it.
I'm not really here to make friends, I'm here to follow discussions, catch up on news and just post some random stuff. That's it really.

Hey.. That's not so bad.

Almost every thread I post in dies instantly.

Heh, I feel like that sometimes. What's the matter guys? Did I cramp your style or something?

There is only one good tip I can give you when it comes to making friends - don't try. That's not to say try not to be friends, simply that by trying too hard to make friends leaves you open to saying/doing stupid things which you normally wouldn't, while also making you far too introspective for your own good. I can't speak for agoraphobia, but when it comes to social anxiety and depression you're one in many, many millions. Just be yourself. Some people will like you, some wont, that's just the way it goes. Take it from me, depression should not be an obstacle when it comes to making friends at all - mental self-flagellation is your real enemy there. Just go with the flow, do the things you want to do and don't do the things you don't, and you'll find yourself developing a social circle you feel comfortable in. Not everyone wants or has to be Mr(s) Popular with 10,000 and no time to themselves.


With regards to making friends here goes, sticking to one account obviously helps, having an avatar which people can recognise you by helps develop the connection, and expressing opinions brings you to peoples' attention. That's the only way to really do it on these forums, and the friends you make here depends pretty much entirely on where you're active - most of my friends here have sprung from music discussions, the football thread, our Age of Empires 2 games, and Werewolf games (from this you can ascertain that Fighters Brotherhood stalks me a lot ). The friend list on these forums is pretty much irrelevant (to me, at least) - most of the people on mine are just there as status. They're all people I've come to know on these forums over time, but all of the interaction between us is done out in the open in threads with everyone else. Don't be disheartened if the people here you consider your friends don't seek out active conversation with you, because most of your back-and-forths will arise naturally from other conversations.


Bah, that bear is a big softie! (beware - sharp claws may still cause damage)

Ignore this guy, he's an idiot.



EDIT: Hey, -dude-, you're pretty ingrained on my forum consciousness these days.

That always happens to me. If I post within a thread, it is guaranteed to die immediately <_<

Just to save you from that on this thread (and to spite you) I wont let it stop at your post.

You're not the only gentleman around on this forum. :tops:

Same here. I've actually started to refer to myself as a thread killer because they tend to die once I post.

EDIT: It appears I've done it once again.

Kinda...



Hah!

I've been here for almost 2 years and no one is comfortable with me. Not even me.
EDIT: In retrospect, maybe that's because I've developed insanity over the last 1 and half year..

You too!?!?

EDIT: We need to start a group for people like us... wait... that'd probably die too.

Can i join, can i join, can i join! :celebration:

I don't kill threads... I derail them...

The real world seems a harsh and distant place. And the webz can seem shallow, and even more distant.

yeah.. it kinda sux that way.. so I just post replies.. mostly to put smiles on faces.. sometimes to advise.
And occasionally I annoy the hell outta everyone._{although that's never the intention} :shrug:

..and I'm down to three emotes a day :woot:
er.. two.


..

So..., who are you?

Oh hang on. It's my turn still with the communications stuff. Right.

Well, aside from being former military, and a side order in computers I'm mostly a dad, raising my son alone -his mom left us when he was seven months. It's harsh, but we manage.
I live on a small island, off the coast of northern Holland, and best news of the years (you get the scoop)

I HAVE A HOUSE!!!! _{this island for all of it's non-size has the same housing shortages and waiting lists as when it's compared to New York, London, Tokio}

So.. my name is actually Andy, and yes, I'm old-ish(*)
-my son being a somewhat belated blessing in life..
don't let the former military stuff rfeak you out, I'm happily on meds for it, and docile.. house broken even, although my son might have a few choice words to say on the matter.

It was nice talking to you.


(*)as the avatar says, not too old to rock though :rock:
..and then there were only one wittle emote weft. And wan awwww da way home.

I think the best thing to do is simply to put your thoughts and opinions out there and allow people to gravitate towards you if they get a sense that they like you or they're on a similar wavelength. You can't make people like you. Well you can to a certain extent but only if you deliberately try to be like others to fit in with them, which means compromising who you are. I'm an awful cynic and find it hard to be naturally positive which does tend to push people away sometimes but it's who I am and I'm grateful to my small circle of friends who 'get' me.

Ah hell, I did that for years, ended up suffering an identity crisis, and if I hadn't met some nice likeminded people I'd robably still be in it.

Well for me like I said, im a pretty shy person and I dont want to be the same person I was a few years ago looking back, im happy i've started changing my views on things. I also think that the saying goes here "Fake it till you make it" Even if you arnt happy im not saying force yourself to smile, just changing your behavior in a small way can put a brighter tint on life. Well I guess that saying doesnt quite fit, but I dont know how else to put it

p.s. im starting to come out of what you did for years turns-the-page, I always seem to try and get on peoples good sides and not disagree with them. I have opinions but if they dont agree with the person im talking to i tend not to speak them. I just need to find where I stand on things and not be afraid to exert my opinion.

That's all very good, but you can't just get rid of half the range of human emotion without losing something of yourself, and you're setting yourself up for a fall if you try to live only in the positives. You have to appraise life realistically sometimes.

:hugs:

:foodndrink:
Cant beat the Mau5


Apart from the helpful advice. Ignore this guy, He's scottish. :stare:

Hmm, well, I was willing to disagree with them, but I would often assume a mentality that was similar to their own, for as long as I knew them. It was only when I noticed that my accent and dialect had a habit of changing on this basis that I realised what I was doing. And then it occured to me that I didn't really know what my base personality was. Probably how I am on these forums is as close to the real me as anything else.

Oh I totally get what you're saying now, part of being negative is disagreeing with people(not entirely but they can go hand in hand) which I said I wanted to be able to do more freely. When my beliefs disagree with others I want to express my opinions more openly. So though Im glad i'm having a more optimistic view on life, im not living only in optimism, which I also believe is impossible.
Its like leaning in a direction, you're still standing in your position but slightly more one way than another. If im usually really realistic (and a bit negative) if i lean towards optimism, i'll meet somewhere in the middle if i were to give a crude example.

this is a tough topic to put into words...

Buuuuu You wanna ignore me too because I'm scottish?

Wait I thought you were American/English :blink:

Ah, I see. Try to have an optimistic outlook, but not obsessively so.

Scottish, Irish, Chinese, Swedish, Russian, and a little German.

Bolded ones are 25%