A Short Guide on How to Make Friends

Whether you’re new in a city, starting a new school, or if you want to make some friends, you’ve come to the right place! Making friends can seem harder than it is, so to help you find your way in making new friends, we’ve created this guide for you.

The people you know

Most of the time, you have a few acquaintances you get along with but aren’t necessarily friends with. You can start making friends by starting with them. It’s easy and has a low bar since you already know them a little bit. It’s also less scary than approaching new people.

Ask them about their day or offer to grab a drink of bite somewhere and ask them about themselves. If they are interested, a new friendship will soon bloom!

Join a Meetup

Sometimes it’s hard to find an acquaintance when you’ve just moved into a new city. In that case, joining a Meetup is a great way to meet new like-minded people. Meetup is a website on which people can host real-life meetups. There are a lot of meetups directed at new people in the area, so not only do you meet new people, you meet people who are new to the city as well. This might help you connect on at least one common item.

Attend some activities

To stay in the Meetup range, you can also look for meetups that correspond to your hobbies. If you like painting, go to a painting class. If you like outdoor hiking, there are classes on that website as well. Some are free, and others ask for a small fee so that it won’t be too expensive either.

The perk of joining these activities is that it’s completely non-binding, so if you don’t like it, you can opt-out at any moment. It’s also an excellent way to meet people with similar interests. Join in on a conversation or introduce yourself, and maybe you’ve just found yourself a weekly hiking group!

Be yourself

This one sounds cliché, but it’s true! If you are introverted, it can be hard to approach new people. However, you shouldn’t portray yourself as extraverted just to come across as being “social”. Therefore, if you are introverted but see someone you would like to approach, a simple “Hi, my name is…” or just a “hi” is often enough to start a small conversation. If you like someone’s clothes, tell them. Or ask for advice if you want to know where they got their hair cut (for example). People love talking about themselves, so it’s great to start a new friendship by just asking something about themselves.

Join online communities

Social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are often full of people looking for friends. Perhaps you just joined a group on Facebook for people who like cooking. You can then post a general message saying something along the lines of “Hi, my name is … and I would like to get to know you better. If you’d like to, you can introduce yourself in the comments and name your favorite dish. I think organizing a potluck with all of our favorite food would be a cool event. Who’s in?”. There are always a handful of people who love to participate in that kind of event. And since you will all meet in a crowd, there are more chances of meeting interesting people. Do make sure you never meet up one-on-one in a private area, if you do so, make sure it’s a public area instead.

If you like to stay online, instead, there is nothing wrong with having online friends. It’s a safe and easy way to get to know someone, and on there you can even meet with people all around the world. Maybe you can find someone to whom you can teach a new language and the other way around or someone to be pen pals with by sending each other letters every other week. The term “friends” doesn’t have to mean that you need to meet them!

Keep trying but don’t push it

There are always people that aren’t interested in new friends. Or people that don’t reply/message first. This can have many reasons, but it does not mean they don’t like you. Therefore, it’s essential to let go of people that do not seem to want to hang out but rather to keep trying by approaching new people and going to new activities.

Keep an open mind

Sometimes you will meet people with other ideologies or opinions. Don’t reject them, but hear them out. Share your ideas and opinions, and maybe you will find common ground. If not, you have still learned a lot, and perhaps it’s the beginning of a great friendship based on something entirely other than your ideologies.

Go with the people you know

Sometimes it can still seem too hard to try these tips on your own. This is no problem at all! If you have someone like a friend or a family member, you could ask them to invite you somewhere where you can get to know others. They can help to introduce you, and you have someone to fall back on when you feel overwhelmed. There is no harm in asking.

Now you’ve had eight helpful tips to start your journey towards making new friends! The most important thing is that you keep being yourself and not to overdo it.