Meet up app meet .. felt like a surreal experience .. has any one ever been ?

[Lolabray]

On a meet up group. I’m quite a social person so can speak to anyone but inside I was like where am I what am I doing with this random bunch of strangers.

I did kind of have a nice time but it felt quite surreal.

I know what you mean, I've been to a few over the years, the one I attended regularly was focussed around a specific hobby/activity so quite 'functional' which was quite good in that it took away some of the awkwardness because there was a clear purpose and we all had something in common to talk about, but equally wasn't much good if what you wanted was to find friends outside said activity, as 'off-topic' conversation was tacitly discouraged - despite attending quite regularly for a few years there's only a few people from that group I'd class as more than acquaintances TBH...

The one I went to that was more just 'people in X area looking for friends' was def more awkward initially - quite natural I think as it is like you say a random group of strangers thrown together to see if they like one another - unlike you I'm naturally a bit socially awkward and shy anyway so had to make a big effort to chat to people (suspect several others there were natural introverts too which makes it harder as everyone was having a bit of a WTF I am doing moment simultaneously) but also not come across too 'strong' or desperate to be liked which is a tough balance! Despite the initial weirdness though I am a fan of the app, I think sometimes you just have to be a bit persistent, the groups can vary in terms of attendance and atmosphere (sometimes you can get one or two people that unintentionally dominate or changes the mood and another time it can feel totally different) and if one didn't work for you then try another. I do think also if your main aim is to make friends in general (rather than like I say attend a group that always discusses a certain topic or does a particular activity) you want to treat it a bit like online dating and move to 'off-group' meet ups and conversations with the people you click with/like relatively quickly and be prepared to have sum duds/failures along the way...

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