I am a pretty gregarious person who’s always smiling and laughing. I strike up conversations with people everywhere I go and if we click I like to exchange numbers. I than follow up with an email and if the respond the friendship can progress from their. I’m a fairly tactile person so need human connection to really feel like I get to know someone. I have friends when I was growing up who would have a pen pal for years and for them that was enough to connect with just words on a piece of paper. Than when I was in college the world wide web beckoned to friends to meet people near and far. I had friends from college who met, date and married people using the archaic system back in the 80s (yes I’m that old). But for me it’s never clicked the same way instead I like the internet as more of a information hub, a site to meet local men to date and find activities.
Now back to my first question am I a good ‘online’ friend. Well according to a woman who who I’d met she was quite frustrated that I didn’t respond to her comments and questions that she had. Often her questions weren’t in my mind real questions they were more in line of comments from someone who was listening to an inside joke and wanted to be part of the ‘inner’ circle but it’s not a joke once you explain it from top to bottom. Usually if someone posts something on FB that I don’t understand or isn’t directed at me than I might glance at it but don’t get invested in the answer. It’s obvious after reading the comments that it’s not for my eyes and so I move on. But she got annoyed especially after I posted a self centered tweet about friends not responding to messages. Of course the operative word is ‘friend’ my expectations for someone that I know is quite a bit higher than someone who’s on my twitter feed, following my tv viewing on getglue or my random thoughts on FB. I realized after we had exchanged messages that she had an expectation from me that wouldn’t be met. I’m not a long distance friend personality unless your someone who I really know and even than we are all busy with our lives so you squeeze in emails when you have time. I personally use facebook to keep long distance friends and family members a window of what I’m up to or thinking but usually when I want to talk to them I’ll call them on the phone or send a DM/email. I rarely respond to comments since they are like dandelion seeds blowing in the wind. Pretty to look at but not substantial and nothing to build a foundation upon in my life.
Now I know that right now I have a LOT going on with a few road bumps on my path of happiness that has left me at times in the doldrums and so I don’t have a lot of emotion to invest in every new person I meet and especially in people that I will not be meeting since they aren’t local. Also I have a very skeptical nature and so until I meet someone to confirm that they are who they say they are I don’t assume that they are on the up and up. It’s probably because I watch those mystery shows about scammers, murderers and general sociopaths so that’s always in the back of my head. Hmmm maybe I should stop watching those shows while I’m looking to date!
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Ok, really? One cannot infer tone when reading typed words. I very specifically told you that I was not annoyed, only that I was trying to clarify.
For future reference, when one poses a question, they end their words with a question mark. If they have a statement (that you apparently consider irrelevant, which is insulting, at best), they end it in a period.
You said you were in search of new friends. I responded to that because I thought we had a lot in common. I am no longer interested.
Please work on your social skills. Especially if you choose to make your living in the field of Social Networking.
Good luck and good bye.