Social networking sites: Good idea?

[Lights]

I've finally done it. I've turned to the dark side.

 

I'm considering setting up a personal social weblog, as has long ago become in vogue a la the musicians-suddenly-overran-with-teenagers site MySpace, or any of the various sites around. I much prefer socializing in person, not via gadgetry, but years have gone by and it just hasn't been happening.

 

I need advice on the following:

 

- Which site is best? There's MySpace, TagWorld, Tribe, CyWorld, and who knows how many else, all of which have their own characteristics, from what I hear.

 

- Is online social networking an effective route from which to "start from zero"? In other words, I'm going to be starting out from isolation, not from having a pre-existing community of any kind.

 

- Is this effective for getting around demographic problems in offline life? After seeing another of my friends betrayed by his comrades recently, I've realized that following my true interests tends to put me around people I do not want to be around. Also, everyday life for me as it stands poses some serious gender ratio problems if I start looking again for dates. Can joining an online social network help find people among demographics that one's interests generally don't lend themselves to finding?

 

- Finally, what are good places to learn how to make an effective, attractive site, and also not leave my identity unguarded online?

 

Thanks for all help.

[Guest]

I have tried the social networking sites, with very little success. I have had luck finding some very lovely people on Myspace, but my social calendar is far from being filled.

 

I find that the people I enjoy the most are the ones who live very far away, and the relationships remain online.

 

The people who are local are either not interested in taking the relationship offline, or they are looking for more than just a friendship, even though they fill out "friendship" under what they are looking for.

 

Some examples:

I met one guy who was fantastic, we met in person, spent a great day together, had a lot in common, and I thought it could be a wonderful friendship. He met another myspace girl who he started dating, and immediately deleted me from his friends list.

 

I have messaged several females who say they are looking for friends, who have many common interests, and I have never recieved a reply from any of them.

 

If I were you, I'd give it a go, just don't set your expectations too high, or you'll probably face lots of dissapointment.

[Marielle]

The best one is meetin.org, it's actually to meet ppl in places, such as restaurants, movies, events

 

Check it out, it's a great way to make a few friends...well for me it did, being new in a city.

[konfuzd]

I just signed up with a website called meetup. It's a pretty simple idea, it's all free, and people just form groups based on interests/activities, set up a meeting time/place and anyone can just show up and attend the event. It seems pretty fun and non-intimidating.

 

I am attending my first meetup on Monday, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

The only downside to the site is that the profiles are very basic. You can't really learn a lot about the other members before you actually meet up with them. There are 25 people signed up for the event I'm going to, so I'm pretty confident there will be one or two who are at the very least tolerable.

[Lights]

Thanks for the info people. I'm looking more into this as I write.

 

I have tried the social networking sites, with very little success. I have had luck finding some very lovely people on Myspace, but my social calendar is far from being filled.

 

I find that the people I enjoy the most are the ones who live very far away, and the relationships remain online.

 

The people who are local are either not interested in taking the relationship offline, or they are looking for more than just a friendship, even though they fill out "friendship" under what they are looking for.

 

Some examples:

I met one guy who was fantastic, we met in person, spent a great day together, had a lot in common, and I thought it could be a wonderful friendship. He met another myspace girl who he started dating, and immediately deleted me from his friends list.

 

I have messaged several females who say they are looking for friends, who have many common interests, and I have never recieved a reply from any of them.

 

If I were you, I'd give it a go, just don't set your expectations too high, or you'll probably face lots of dissapointment.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Guest. So is MySpace more appropriate for dating than for finding friends? (Personally, I'm looking for all of the above; friends, dates etc., and out-of-town connections, preferably from outside my normal range of interests).

 

The best one is meetin.org, it's actually to meet ppl in places, such as restaurants, movies, events

 

Check it out, it's a great way to make a few friends...well for me it did, being new in a city.

 

That's great! Thanks Marielle. Did you do anything specific when you joined, or is just any kind of profile ok?

 

I just signed up with a website called meetup. It's a pretty simple idea, it's all free, and people just form groups based on interests/activities, set up a meeting time/place and anyone can just show up and attend the event. It seems pretty fun and non-intimidating.

 

I am attending my first meetup on Monday, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Hey good luck, and thanks for offering the information. How'd it go?

[konfuzd]

Hey good luck, and thanks for offering the information. How'd it go?

 

The group I joined was a walking group. We met up to walk along the seawall, which was great. Most of the people were out of my age group, but I made some great business contacts and spent most of the day with the only other person my age. We ended up leaving the group and taking a boat taxi across the water and going for lunch. We traded contact info, and hopefully will be meeting up again.

 

The people were all really nice, and suggested that next time I try a hiking group which tends to have a younger crowd, so I think I'll go for that. Overall, I think it was a great idea, and I'll definately go back and join other groups as well. The great thing about the site is that there is something for everyone, from knitting to kayaking, to beer drinking.