It's all about how they present themselves. Just like a salesperson would present themselves.

If they are warm, and offer useful advice, then being friends is a no brainer.

If they're an ass, but still offer useful advice, the same thing goes. (Hey Bill)

If they just spout off nonsense and hateful crap, well the door is right over there, buddy.

I always think that it is funny when people disassociate online and "the real world".

Anyway, I don't think that I ever go into a forum looking for friends. Plus, I would mainly consider the people that I know co-workers

I agree. It's all about presentation. I realize that some people may consider good grammar and good manners to be "old fashioned," but I value both highly, as do others.

Some great responses. Mike that is an interesting perspective.

-Will

I would probably be friends with the people on this forum that I really like if we met offline. There's actually quite a few people that I like from the WF. There's even a handful of people that I previously didn't think much of that I like a lot now. There's even some that still push my buttons but I still like them.

The ones I like have common attributes. There's a ring of truth to their posts ... honesty. They have a good sense of humor and don't take themselves too seriously. There's a level of trust involved as well. These are people I wouldn't hesitate to do business with.

My friendships with people usually comes from working with people directly on projects or joint ventures. I've started doing things with people I didn't originally like based on their posts on WF and other forums, but they are completely different people in a instant-messaging type setting. I then would form a pretty good relationship with these people. I don't typically judge people by their grammar online. I know my grammar is a bit butchered but thats because I speak Mandarin a lot through out the day and Chinese grammar and English grammar do not mesh well.

Many of my friendships have come about by pure chance I think. I have one friendship that developed in a forum where I was having an argument in a thread that got pretty full on. This other member stuck up for me and was really helpful and we just developed a friendship after that.

I've also had a couple where people have bought my product through a WSO and have contacted me for help with the product and then it progressed into a friendship.

So I really think my friendships haven't been as a matter of choosing people based on any criteria, but more of a natural progression into friendship.

WOW,

Ok these are some awesome responses. I appreciate that people aren't posting-because they are hot:p

@jay; You are right in your observations about people posting,sometimes they will make a post primarily to get people to look at their sig file. When you do the site is an obvious hack,scam or blatant garbage site.

@Sheryl,
That is interesting...so it is not really based on how you perceive the person thus far it is more about how the friendship just sort of led into being. Awesome point.

@Brad, It is something to consider about being arrogant, Though some people who are rich can be quite arrogant or someone who is full of themselves what you said serves as proof in my eyes that how you conduct yourself really does make or break you. I remember a couple threads when I first was coming here that I went off a bit on and it indeed did hurt me.

Thanks folks these are fantastic responses. It is nice to see other perspectives on a subject that intrigued me.
Thanks for contributing to it
-Will

I bumped this, because some of you need more friends. Also, Will is rad.

Carry on.

LOL.
Lazy you are a card sometimes:p

Interesting topic though I always love to know what makes people tick.
-Will

Look their profile if they are credible or not.

Hm...

Anyone who don't take anything too seriously is my criteria on making friends.

Good thread, funny post, willing to spare their time to answer newbie question (like me) when asked in this forum.

One more thing, someone who got bad grammar like me, so I don't feel alone in this forum.

Signature as a consideration? I'm not gonna take his/her signature too far. I know that they are marketer, trying to make some money for their life, they come to this forum to discuss thing, and show their signature so they can get click and sales.

Well, nice reply even in hot threads is also my consideration in making friends.

I come to conclusion that calm people is usually smart people because they know they have back up on what they said. Well... I think that is my consideration when choosing friend in this forum.

Willing to be my friends, Mino?

Honestly, I was wondering what the usefulness of the friend thingy is on the WF, where someone can be your friend?

Hi Steve,
valid question.
One thing about making friends with others is it allows for a comradery to be extended and a friendship to ensue. As sheryl says some of her dealings just sort of led into it.

It is a great way to network with likeminded people whom you can relate to for whatever reason.

-Will

Isn't it more like "contacts" or in my case "students"?

I met 2 real friends online in which we became close in real life. One of them happens to live not too far from where I live. 30km away

I met people on forums but mostly on Yahoo messenger that became virtual friends, quite many actually.

I prefer saying contacts or business contacts until we got to know each other better, then friend but a virtual one at that. The others simply live too far to actually build a real life viable friendship.

Take care,

Bernard St-Pierre
Marketing Consultant
Copywriter/Teacher

My friendships usually just happen over several chatting, correspondences, personal meetings, seminars, etc.

I'm pretty open with my opinions and thoughts and not everyone can appreciate that. Being friends with anyone is fine with me but I give honest opinions when asked, even if those opinions might hurt your feelings.

But personally, to me, trust and honesty. There important!

Very true Matt that is good advice, People according to the police, even are becoming harder to spot because of the professional looking sites they have people get duped etc. That is good advice you just offered.
Cheers
-Will

Can you choose your friends on here?

How on earth do you approach people without appearing like some psycho stalker.

How do you know that you aren't just a nuisance to someone who gets hundreds of PM's from folks similar to yourself every day.

I've made friends on here in the past - but that was due to a local area warrior meet up.

Maybe it's my Brit reserve, but I'd hate to be bothersome, so rather than risk that I do nothing.

I don't really choose friends, it just kind of happens LOL. You start talking, things click, and after a few days you're emailing back and forth each days just talking about all kinds of stuff, not only IM related.

I guess sometimes you just find someone you're comfortable with and you enjoy talking too, whether it's offline or online.

Leslie

I usually take people who answers with sense as a good poster but a friend is a different matter. I just PM people whom I like to be friends with especially if we are sharing same passions in certain type of niches etc...

Andrea

Will, do you ever sleep?!

Yup. I sleep 4-6 hrs every day:p

Right now just unwinding had to rewrite my sales letter for one of my main products as it is not converting as well as it should. So I show being online but I am doing other things as well. But now I am unwinding:p
Thanks for asking
-Will

I don't. Everyone is my friend until they demonstrate otherwise.

A little story to add some perspective...

I have a friend who happens to spend far too much time at a particular bar. Due to the amount of time he spends at this bar the bartenders give him great deals on drinks. In return he tips them very well.

He considers the bartenders to be friends.

I asked him, do any of those bartenders ever call you on their days off and want to hang out?

No.

They are not your friends.

Hey CD, That is definitely a different answer. So everyone deserves the benefit of the friendship until they prove they are unworthy.
And here I felt special:p
Cheers
-Will

Thanks CD I feel oh so good now:p

[DELETED]

It'd be based on how they present themselves, and interact with others on this forum. I'd apply the "real world" test here, and ask myself whether these are people I'd want to associate with offline in the real world. If the answer is yes, then it's pretty clear how I'd proceed next.

Interesting thread.

There are people who on this forum I respect, and admire their knowledge, experience, and willingness to help people. I never did really think about trying to make close personal friends though.

I try to help out when I can, and be a good community member but the value I get out of this community is more for my financial sake.

I prefer other members which is kind, helpful, and our thoughts closedly related..

In social networking, if i have some friends in real world with intense meets, we usually less talk on net.

Just want to throw out something that I never see mentioned here... Teamwork.

Now this isn't exactly friendship but I've never see any mention of, or people looking to work together.

I don't mean this in a JV way, that is a scratch my back and I'll scratch yours business approach.

What I mean is, If I can create killer websites and you can write great articles, together we could rule the internet. Working together and focusing on what each of us is good at, we can cover more ground at a faster pace and put out a higher quality product.

Outsourcing does remove the need for a business partner but is your outsourced worker really as enthusiastic or even give a damn about you or your product? You stop paying, they stop working.

Most successful businesses I can think of are not just one guy, why should an online business be any different?

Teamwork... it's like you +1

You might even make a new friend out of it, or an enemy for life

I think people become friends over time, this isn't instant Dating lol... I have made many friends online simply because we just clicked (no pun intended).

If you have something in common with someone and you enjoy the banter then why not make the first move and "friend them up"... they could end up being a lifelong friend (or a pain in the ass) just like offline friends..

Keith

I would choose them by the number of the posts and of course the quality of the posts.

As long they enjoy surf/bodyboard, barbecues/beer and partying?

:p

Humor and humanity is always good to see in forum posters but these won't be the sole characteristics that help me choose friends online. It depends on a lot of things, maybe someone is helpful (not just to me), they have a zany dp, a cool signature, have great opinions, or maybe i'm in a good mood etc.

Like in life, its a mixture of many things.

I'm hardly friends with anyone on this forum but I really respect several of you kids, if not for anything else than just for the hard work you do every day.

Cheers,
Sana

Hi Everyone,

Some interesting perspectives being shared here some are saying working relationships only. Well that is NOT what the thread is about so you get: an A for effort

See offline people will make friends for a variety of reasons
1)They like the way someone looks.
2)They have common interests-shooting pool,going to clubs,golf, Stuff like that they could do together.-fun stuff I don't work with my friends I relax with them:p

3)They like that the person is popular and can help boost their own status if they hang out(I saw this a LOT in the bar scene) better known as borrowed credibility which is also a marketing strategy -As seen on: Associated with:non profit clubs like the Lions-that is borrowed credibility

4)They make friends based on faith similarity i.e. go to the same church or venue as them

5)People make friends because of status in society hoping to gain financially.
Some of the responses like Sal and Jason would fall into this category Working relationships/partnerships are only there to increase the bottom line and as I said most of the time are a waste of time. Unless you can find the right one it is more headache than it is worth.

So what I see in the responses offered is that the mindset though online seems similar.

I appreciate folks taking the time to respond.
cheers
-Will

Errm thanks for that awesome contribution:rolleyes:
What exactly does a whine have to do with how you choose friends:confused:

Online, "friend" has become almost a meaningless word. In most cases, they are more like casual acquaintances than actual friends. I think the social networks and forums and such have really muddied the word. Or, maybe we've done it by "friending" anyone and everyone--and by "we" I don't just mean marketers.

So, I'm easy. Someone sends me a friend request and I generally approve it unless they're an obvious spammer. And, if they do prove to be a spammer, well, at least on the WF, the problem takes care of itself when they get themselves banned so I don't have to worry about defriending them.

Thanks for popping in Dan Always enjoy your posts.
This gives an entirely different perspective. I never considered about the muddying stuff I think you have a valid point in saying that. Lots of people on my friends list I chat with outside the forum but the relationship started with the forum.

Anyhow I appreciate your thoughts here
thanks
-Will

similar interests and a good human,is what i look for.