I’m struggling to figure out how to make friends without having Instagram or any other social media. I have discord but don’t use it much. I see all my acquaintances in discord channels and sharing Instagram posts and stuff. It’s already hard for me to make friends, but I feel like not having any of the traditional social media means I’m not included in any of that stuff.

Do you just accept that Instagram and shit are the way people interact and use it?

67 points

How do you make friends with social media?

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11 points

I think it’s more just that it’s a low stakes way to “hang out” and chat without any commitment or pressure. At least that’s how I see the value

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8 points

sounds genuinely creepy.

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4 points

fellas is it creepy to have internet friends

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3 points

sometimes!

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2 points

Which is why I’ve made zero friends on social media.

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36 points

Discord is social media. What you need, my friend, are hobbies. Or the meetup app. Or to just go look up events in your area and go to them. Hobbies work because then you can find other people locally who are also into your fetish hobby.

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22 points

You need to make an effort to put yourself in places where you can meet people. Often this takes the form of finding a community with a common interest. This could be a hobby, a lecture, a course, book club, gardening, etc.

Other places where you meet people can be a workplace, a volunteering effort, social gatherings like listening to a band, orchestra or a play.

You can go to the local coffee shop and spend time there watching people. If you do this regularly, you’re likely to meet people whom you can talk to and interact with.

If you already know people, acquaintances, then organise or participate in activities with them.

Social media is an add-on to life, not life itself.

The way to make friends is essentially finding ways to interact with other humans, preferably in places where you like to enjoy yourself.

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13 points

Meetup.com and volunteering.

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11 points
*

Outside of work and school, I think pretty much all of my friends are from some sort of group, often volunteering stuff

Edit: or friends I met through friends

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11 points

Volunteer. You’ll meet the best people.

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2 points
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That isn’t true at all. Plenty of volunteers are shitty people.

A group I was recently with just had a huge scandal because someone who joined had a sexual offender records and we were working with kids… he basically fucked everyone over and the entire org had to stop operations for months until every member clear background checks.

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0 points

All the best people volunteer. I stand by this. Sorry you had an experience with a shitty person also volunteering. Part of non-profit management is dealing with shitty volunteers.

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1 point

ok, now we have moved to ‘if you don’t volunteer you are less than as a person.’

seriously, volunteering has zero to do with one’s moral worth in life. tons of good people never volunteer. lots of shitheads do. volunteering isn’t some inherently moral/good act. lots of people volunteer for shitty reasons and do shitty things.

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2 points

The first thing I think of when I hear volunteer is soup kitchen, and after a quick check it turn out my local one doesn’t need any more people at this time. What are some other places one can volunteer, that might not be so obvious?

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2 points

Maybe a local advocacy group, one that aligns with your interests and values?

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1 point

Church, political party, environment, homeless shelter, women’s shelter, non-profit music societies, arts, etc depending on your interests.

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1 point

Habitat for Humanity is a great one IMHO I loved helping out with them when I could

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1 point

What if you don’t want to help people?

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4 points

Help animals then…

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0 points

Volunteer with pets!

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