[CHAT] Making friends & keeping them!!
Join us 8pm AEDT Monday 29th Feb for a chat about friendships - how to make friends and have fulfilling friendships with those around you.
A lot of research has been done looking into the benefits of friendship, and the research has found exactly what you might expect. It turns out that the better quality relationships you have; the more likely you are to be happy. Therefore it’s good for your happiness to be a great friend to someone and to have a group of good friends supporting you. But it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what makes a good friend, or how to make new friends if it's not happening naturally...
Just because you're finding it hard to make friends, it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. But there are a couple of things you can do to come across as a great potential friend and improve your chances of finding some new mates:
- Work on your self-awareness
- Be patient instead of pushy
- Try not to bitch
- Don’t forget who you are - be yourself!
To talk about all of this and more, and share your best and worst friend stories, join us right here at 8pm AEDT on the 29th! Hope to see you then!
Thanks everyone for another awesome and informative GR! Loved hearing everyone's perspectives 
Night all!
Night @N1ghtW1ng! Awesome to chat to you tonight - good luck with uni tomorrow!
@N1ghtW1ng goodnight mate! Thanks for an excellent chat. I always love to pick your braaaaiiinz
Take care of yourself @j95 - thanks for chatting with us tonight!
How do you stay in touch with your friends? What makes it easier, and what is difficult?
Agreed @FootyFan26 despite what we were saying earlier about Facebook "friends" perhaps not being an accurate reflection of the closeness of some friendships, social media does make it easy to keep in touch with friends and send a quick message to see how they are doing.
I also try to make time to see friends in person, which mostly consists of coffee/lunch dates. Sometimes though it's difficult to find time as everyone has different schedules/things going on!
@N1ghtW1ng drifting apart from people can definitely happen too! I found that happened when I moved interstate, and after high school ended with some friends. Other high school friends though are the ones I was talking about earlier where we can go for ages without talking but it's all good. So I guess it really depends!
It's easier when you've got a steady means of communication and fb, online stuff does make it easier. When interstate/international that is. Depending (never the same :P) on your friendship, you can keep regular comminication with them to stsy in touch easier. It can be difficult because sometimes it can feel like it's you initiating conversations and that can be difficult.
While we think about @Ben-RO's questions (and in the interests of time), here is our last question tonight:
How do you stay in touch with your friends? What makes it easier, and what is difficult?
I think what's difficult about staying in touch is sometimes your past friends are at a different stage in their life to you so you may find it hard to connect with them. And if you don't reach out and talk to them, then you are no longer up to date with what is going on in their life and what are there interests.
Ah so good @ryvb3 we move through our different ages and stages in our lives at different rates. I have another question for you, but also need to close this thread! aaaah. Perhaps we shall have to continue the disccusion tomorrow :).
Goodnight everyone!
I find that most heartfelt/deep conversations happen when you are with the person and not online over the Internet
For introverts, joining groups is still a good way to go because it's not a good mindset to think people come to you, rather it's the other way around. Which is hard and a pain in the butt, but even introducing yourself to a few people goes long ways to making friends.
I think perhaps even if quality is more important than quantity, practice makes perfect and therfore you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.
How do you stay in touch with your friends? What makes it easier, and what is difficult?
Whoa, i am going to have to answer this one really quickly!
Social media is amazing and terrible at the same time. It's awesome because you can snapchat, or message or just go through someones feed and catch up with them, But it makes it more difficult because all of that doesn't involve nearly as much interaction as actually sitting down and talking to the person for a little while, a big part of a friendship is asking a person a question about them and then just listening to them and letting them share. That doesn't happen as much when you already know everything because it appeared on your feeds!
Gnite @j95! Hope the head injury is all G! Remember to go to the doctors if you need too! (sorry I am an over protective community manager :P).
Also we should probably start wrapping this thread up! But I am going to leave it open for a little bit longer to give you all a little more time to answer this last question 🙂
I get what you mean @j95 about quality over quanity, but also whether you should have more than one friend in case of a falling out. You (the general you) could have different types of friends but only one for each type. One special close friend, one work/team friend. But it's what you are comfortable with.
