Meeting Real Friends on MySpace: Is it Possible?

Myspace is a great way to keep in touch with your friends and family. You can send messages and leave comments for them. You can see pictures and keep up with their lives. Myspace also gives you the opportunity to meet new people. It is sort of along the same lines of internet dating. You put up a profile, other people read it, and if they are interested in you the send you a friend request. The question is Myspace a place to meet real friends?

Yes real friends. Not just people you leave comments for, or people you hook up with. I mean real friends you can actually talk to and spend time with.

For some people it is like a popularity contest. The goal is to have as many friends as humanly possible. Some people accept anyone who sends them a friend request. Others are more cautious and check out the profile of the requester before saying yes or no. Then there are the people who only accept requests from people they know.

Some people think of Myspace as a place for "fake" friends. The idea is that you will probably not ever meet any of these people in real life. They are just people that leave superficial comments about you or your page. You may talk back and forth, but you will never really be "true friends."

Others believe that just like internet dating, connections will be made. You can make good friends using Myspace, you just have to be careful of who you accept as a friend, and then from that pool, who you choose to trust.

I agree that with careful planning and a bit of caution, you can make your Myspace friends your real friends. It isn't something you just want to haphazardly jump into. You want to take your time and make sure this is what you want to do, and that these are people you actually want to meet.

First and foremost, be aware of who you are friending. Yes, watching your friends list grow exponentially is awesome, but you want to make sure you are friending trustworthy people. I usually only accept friend requests from people I have met in real life, or -people who have contacted and we have talked before they sent the request. That gives me time to get to know them a little and to check out their profile before making a decision.

If a friend wants to meet in real life, there are just some common sense things to keep in mind. You always want to meet them in a safe and public place. That means do not go to their house or have them meet you at your place on the first visit. If they are coming from out of town, it is probably best that they do not stay with you (unless you REALLY know them well). Be safe, and be smart. Do not do anything that makes you uncomfortable or uneasy. Always have a back up plan. In case the meeting is not going well be sure to have an out in place.

I was lucky in that when I met my Myspace friends for the first time, it was an already planned weekly "Myspace Happy Hour" for local Myspacers. One of my friends was one of the people who set it up. That way we were meeting in a public place, with lots of people. Plus that also meant I gained more friends in the process.

Of course I was terrified on the first night I went. What if no one liked me? What if I wasn't pretty or smart enough to fit in? What if the group was cliquey and I was miserable the whole night. By the end of the night, I still had quite a few reservations. I still wasn't sure if I was actually in or if people were just being nice to me. Still it was positive enough that I went back the next week, and now I have some really great friends to hang out with. Before all this, I was looking for a group of friends to hang out with. I found a like minded group of people that accept me for me. It is a pretty decent deal.

I never imagined that I would have real Myspace friends, but now that it has happened, I can't imagine my life without them. Yes, for some Myspace will just be a superficial landmine for the to look at pretty people, and compile their friends list, but it can also be a great way to network and meet people with similar interests.