Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Have you ever made a friend online

53 replies

HappyMe6 · 02/04/2023 19:46

I’ve actually met 4 and each one I’ve met have been really lovely, and we consider each other firm friends. While a couple of my close friends said oh be careful you don’t know who you are meeting! It could be a man and you could be putting yourself in danger! There were no men. I met in a public place and it worked out well

OP posts:
MadEyeMoodysEye · 02/04/2023 23:07

Yes, through a pregnancy forum. She's now one of my best friends and I'm Godmother to her children.

Ishouldbeoutside · 02/04/2023 23:31

Wow! This is encouraging. I’m curious to know how people meet online . I don’t do social media and this is the only forum I use.

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 02/04/2023 23:34

mbosnz · 02/04/2023 19:48

Very much so. One of them became the godmother to our daughter, despite us never meeting. God Rest You Artermis.

Hello! If you're who I think you are, I didn't know you were on here.

Had you spotted there's now an ongoing chat (one might call it unlimited talk, perhaps) thread here for former posters of the board that was the lifeboat when the Other Place went down?

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 02/04/2023 23:39

Yes - female friends I have connected with on Instagram and then met up with in real life. One lives in my city, and the other at the opposite end of the country. Love them! I’ve also met up with women who were on another online forum as a group meet up.

Rogue1001MNer · 03/04/2023 00:08

Ishouldbeoutside · 02/04/2023 23:31

Wow! This is encouraging. I’m curious to know how people meet online . I don’t do social media and this is the only forum I use.

Me too, yet I've made several friends on here which have migrated to RL.
(So I can't be telling you what bitches they are cos they'll know 🤫😉🤣)

Wedoronron · 03/04/2023 00:18

I'm going to go against the grain and say no!
I have lots and lots of amazing friends and even more acquaintances I don't need any more. My online life is my downtime away from my hectic social and work life.

Wedoronron · 03/04/2023 00:19

Not that I see any negatives (once safety measures are out in place) about meeting people online :)

GoldenCupidon · 03/04/2023 00:24

Yes I met a wonderful woman on here about 14 years ago and we’re still friends now.

also met my husband online

the vast majority of my friends are from “real life” though

VivaciousRadish · 03/04/2023 00:31

I met my best friend on an online forum for a hobby we once shared, but no longer do. Probably about 18 years ago now, and we’ve met lots of times, and speak every day (message on and off all day, as we both work from home). We’ve supported each other through some bad times as well as good. Our daughters are the same age, so are we, and we share the same taste in books and music. I’m really lucky to have her.

We both have other friends, but I consider her my best friend. She’s my favourite anyhow.

20 years ago it might have been weird, but surely it opens up a whole world of people who share your interests even though you might not live next door.

I don’t think my best friend is @RuthW but we have very similar experiences!

Yfory · 03/04/2023 00:36

Yes loads. Over half the people I regularly chat to online are people I "met" online. And about half of those I have at some point met in "real life". Many of us are mutual friends with lots of the others.

Minfilia · 03/04/2023 08:57

Yes, several friends made on ivillage who all had DC due at the same time, many many years ago! We arranged regular meet ups though in restaurants for lunch etc. I still keep in touch with three of them.

Two friends made through online gaming. One who came to stay with us regularly until he had kids (from abroad). I have another friend who is abroad, never met in person, but we talk every day despite not playing the same games anymore. He’s a very good friend now.

DD met her boyfriend online, DS met his girlfriend on Snapchat. I think it’s just the norm for this generation but maybe less so for mine. I have been far more cautious when it came to my teens meeting people than I ever was with myself though…

dexterslockedintheshedagain · 03/04/2023 08:58

I found my tribe on MN. They know who they are! 😃

Magnoliainbloom · 03/04/2023 08:59

Met a wonderful person on here who was going through a similar issue.

weegiemum · 03/04/2023 12:04

I have 7 or 8 friends from MN that I have met up with in rl and they're great. One is coming here for lunch on Wednesday! Another has come here for holidays twice.

There are a few others I've never met who I'd love to, we're in touch via Facebook/email.

Knittingisacraptherapy · 03/04/2023 12:12

I made a great friend online, in fact I married him less than a year later. It seems to be working out really well, it's our silver wedding next year. 😁

NotAnotherBathBomb · 03/04/2023 14:08

Ishouldbeoutside · 02/04/2023 23:31

Wow! This is encouraging. I’m curious to know how people meet online . I don’t do social media and this is the only forum I use.

Well you answered your own question.

NotAnotherBathBomb · 03/04/2023 14:12

Sorry @Ishouldbeoutside reading that back it sounded short, it was meant as light hearted. I interact with loads of people through SM, and met my friend specially through a Facebook group.

What happens is you already are in a group with people who share common interests. Then you find that another person comments a lot so you get to 'know' them, then you find that you share similar views. Then one day one of you will message each other outside of the group for one reason or another, and it just goes from there

Deathbyfluffy · 03/04/2023 14:13

Absolutely - met many friends this way, both male and female (I'm a man).
If you exercise proper caution etc, it's perfectly safe - most of the horror stories are when people are a little lax with safety.

turnthetoiletpaperroundproperly · 03/04/2023 15:17

I have met many both male and female from various facebook groups. In fact I liked one chaps music posting ,it truly was a cracking tune I hadnt heard for a while,we got chatting 6 months later we got married had a baby now 11 yrs and been together 13 yrs. There is some really genuine decent people who make fab friends,just exercise common sense .

Original poster
HappyMe6 · 03/04/2023 15:18

Lovely stories everyone

OP posts:
MisschiefMaker · 03/04/2023 15:52

Yes, starting as a teenager on message boards. I actually met a boy that way who is now my DH. For years I pretended I met him in a more 'normal' way because this was before online dating so it was seen as weird to meet people on chat rooms at the time.

InsertSomethingMotivationalHere · 03/04/2023 15:55

I met a good group of friends playing world of warcraft, who all live in the UK. I met another friend in the same way and ended up going to Iceland to meet up with him. Finally, I met my fiance on the game too - my tenner a month subscription has been well spent 😆

Knullrufs · 03/04/2023 15:57

Yes. Weirdly I met a friend doing OLD. We matched and met, but when we met up in person it became very obvious very quickly that there was absolutely no sexual or romantic attraction on either side. However we ended up staying in the pub chatting for ages and, in time, becoming friends. He's not my closest friend but I've known him for about six years.

HamHand · 03/04/2023 15:57

Way way back in the day, I went to a Mumsnet meet-up when those were still a thing. One of the women I met is now one of my best friends, 15 years later. I’m so lucky to have met her

Backstreets · 03/04/2023 15:58

I met two lovely friends online (one thanks to MN, in a roundabout way!). We’re not in the same country now and have drifted apart, but the times we had were great ❤️

Lovely thread op