How to make friends

Have you ever tried to Google “How to make friends”? Most articles will tell you to do things like joining a running club, volunteering and so on… all requiring you to leave the house.

But… dealing with stress, anxiety and/or depression, leaving the house can be quite difficult and challenging. Thus making new friends can feel impossible.

Luckily, it’s not? You can make friends from home.

Therefore, I have rounded up six ways you can make friends online without leaving your home.

They can help you find “your people” and connect with like-minded people sharing your interests or mental struggles.

The good news? You may be pleasantly surprised by how many others out there are looking for friends like you.

So let’s jump into it 👇

1. Facebook groups

There are so many opportunities to make new friends via Facebook groups – everything from common interests, to support groups, etc. Actually, these Facebook support groups are one of the first places a lot turn to after a diagnosis.

But… as with anything else, there are pros and cons to finding friends via Facebook groups.

It’s an awesome place to talk with like-minded and get advice from others going through a similar experience or common interest. However, many of these groups are not properly run by the administrators, so it may take some time to find the right Facebook group for your needs. 

To get started, search the name of whatever you want to find a Facebook group for. It could be e.g. anxiety, broken leg, American football or knitting. After you have searched, click on “Groups” to find groups related to whatever you searched for. 

You can even search for “make friends” and a lot of groups will show up. Below you can see the first five groups popping up when searching for “make friends”:

When using Facebook groups, please remember you don't have to feel guilty about leaving a group that does not fit your needs – then find another to see if it better fits your needs.

2. Friend-making apps

You probably know dating apps, but do you also know friend-making apps? There are apps out there that allow users to make platonic friendships.

Some friend-making apps try to make you meet, so those you’ll have to avoid to make friends online.

So here are some you can try out:

• Skout gives you the ability to connect with people no matter where you are, making it possible to make friends all over the world.

• Bumble BFF (an offshoot of the Bumble dating app) is a simplified way to create meaningful friendships.

• Hey? Vina (for women only) is a kind of Tinder for meeting new girl friends.

• Glimmer is a social and relationship website designed for people with disabilities and their loved ones.

3. Online communities

Online communities are a great place to find people who understand what you are going through and can also be a good place to get factual information as well as answers to your questions.

Patients Like Me is one of the biggest out there where members are tracking and discussing more than 2,800 conditions – everything from down syndrome to cancer to depression.

4. Working from home

If you can and will work from home, a remote job can be an excellent way to socialize with coworkers through Slack, email, online calls, etc.

An easy way to find remote jobs is to go to LinkedIn and choose “Remote” in the location tab.

5. Online gaming

If you are into gaming (or want to be), it is one of the best ways to make new friends. Thanks to the chat functions of multiplayer games, you can play the game and talk with other players at the same time.

Games like World of Warcraft require you to work with other players in order to advance. Here is a list of the 10 biggest online games in 2020:

• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

• Fortnite Battle Royale

• League of Legends (LOL)

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)

• HearthStone

• Minecraft

• DOTA 2

• Apex Legends

• The Division 2

• Splatoon 2

6. Virtual book clubs

Do you love reading and discussing books? Then you should consider an online book club.

Here are a few you can give a try:

• One Book One Facebook: A book club on Facebook with 1,800 members, reading a book together every few months and discussing it.

• Goodreads are hosting thousands of genre-specific groups (including Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf).

• Booktalk: Here you can join discussions about specific books and post your own discussion topics in the forum.

I really hope this list helped you see all the online opportunities to make friends