When you were a kid, you made friends at school or in your neighborhood by sharing a swing on the playground, or biding bikes down your street. Now that we are adults, we still need to interact and make friends. I don’t know about you, but I don’t swing all that much anymore, but one thing remains the same…sometimes you have to put yourselves out there to make friends.
I have gotten a couple of e-mails from new-ish bloggers asking me how they can make more friends online. Some people feel like they aren’t in the “club” and want to know how to get “in.” First of all, as far as I know there isn’t a club, so good news! The reason why it seems some people are always talking to others more often, its because they are putting themselves out there. Everyone wants to be talked to, or else they wouldn’t be on social media sites, so take the first step and start talking! Where? I’m glad you asked!
I realize a lot of this is old news to a some of you, but think back to what you knew about social media when you first started blogging…you probably didn’t know a whole lot. So let’s get some newer folks involved so they can continue on their journey to health!
Twitter: This is the biggie. This is where you will make the most connections and “talk” the most. (At least I do!) When I first got my twitter handle (@runningwithsass) I didn’t really understand how it worked. I had to do a lot of googling and just get out there and start tweeting. It was a little confusing at first as a Facebook only user, but I quickly caught on and now love it!
Pinterest: This is something I recently joined, and just like Twitter, I wasn’t sure how it “worked” but with a little research I figured it out and now it is the biggest time suck for me! You can “pin” photos, motivational quotes, blog content, etc. on a number of boards that you create and friend people so they can “follow” your boards. Find my pinterest profile here.
Stumble Upon: This is a good way to get exposure for your blog. You can friend people and see the sites that they “stumble” (like) and see who shares common interests with you, etc. It’s also a good way for you to find other sites and blogs that will help you make friends and learn more on your fitness and health journey. My profile here.
Facebook: This is definitely not a must, but I personally enjoy having a Facebook fan page for my blog. Fans can “like” my page and I post content on there like my workouts, blog posts, fitness questions, etc. It’s a great way to interact with other bloggers and my readers and get feedback. My running with sass fan page here.
LinkedIn: This is more of a professional connections site, but still a great way to meet and connect with people in your industry, location, etc. You can find connections and friend people on here as well. My profile here.
Daily mile: Daily mile is a place to keep track of your workouts, and it’s more than just running! You can track cross training, weight lifting, and a variety of other things. People on Daily Mile are great accountability partners, and it’s also a great way to track your workouts. There is even a phone app so you can add workouts on the go! My daily mile profile.
Healthy Living Blogs and FitFluential are two other GREAT places to meet people!
Bottom line, if you wait around for people to talk to you, it may not happen. If it does happen, it will probably happen slowly. If you really want to make friends and be involved in social media, do just that GET INVOLVED! Join in twitter chats like #runchat or #fitblog. Retweet other people when you like what they say. Just like a lot of things in life, you will get out of it what you put into it. Blogging and social media are a lot of FUN. Blogger meet ups are great, and new friends are amazing. Dive in and see how encouraging and open healthy living bloggers can be!
QOTD: What is a site I didn’t list that you use? What is your favorite way to make new friends online?
My new favorite is google plus. Has taken over for twitter as my preferred chatting destination.
I also want to say that it’s nice to acknowledge comments on your (well, not *your*) blog. Obvs this isn’t the case with you, but I’ve read blogs where I commented a lot because I liked the person. They NEVER responded to my comments on the blog, NEVER commented back on my blog, NEVER responded to me on twitter etc. I could understand if the person got a lot of comments- but they didn’t. Usually just mine and maybe 1 more. I finally stopped reading. I hate to say it, but I just don’t have time for that. The blogger doesn’t write as much now, either. So, all of the avenues you mentioned are great, but honestly… communication with readers is the main thing :).
Now, making running buddies in real life… that’s another story and probably 100 times harder than making blog friends, unfortunately :(.
thats a bummer. I wish I had time to visit every blog that comments on mine but I don’t. I do try to hit a few a day and I try to comment on comments when I can. I don’t comment on everything though. I do love interacting with my readers!
Amaƶing website Claire
I’m a big fan of Meetup.com, but that’s more for IRL friends that START online. I’ve met some of my favorite people through it!
never heard of it, thanks!
You hit all the big ones… ‘cept Google+
and via commenting on blogs is great way too 😉
I am trying to get better about commenting on the blogs that I read so I can leave the “stalker” category and move into the “online acquaintance” category 🙂
I like the personal interactions that twitter provides (well as personal as you can get online). It is nice to be able to directly contact a company with a question and have the opportunity to interact with very knowledgeable people in various areas of interest that I normally wouldn’t have access too.
Awesome post and very informative. I feel left out and want to be in a photo. LOL. Maybe in need more Sass.
Great post! Just the other day my friend was making fun of me for having met so many friends online. Funny thing is she met her boyfriend on a dating website! Online definitely is the new playground 🙂
HA she def has no room to talk!
Great post! I loooove Pinterest. I just added you!
thanks!
This is fantastic – I just started blogging and using Twitter, and I often am not sure how to make friends. But I already feel motivated by reading everyone’s posts so that’s a good start! I’ll be retweeting this now. (@paulettezf) 🙂
Thanks girl. COngrats on the new blog.
Girl! How was I not already following you on Pinterest?? Correcting that now! 🙂
oohhhh I don’t know! lol
Thank you! I’ve been trying to get the hang of a few of these lately. I’m glad to be able to connect with people who will push, challenge, share, motivate, and laugh with me.
You can do it, keep at it! Let me know if I can ever help.
Thanks! I have been on twitter for a now while and still working on getting the hang of it!
Stick with it, it gets better!
This is fantastic advice! Twitter has been one of the biggest ways I’ve gotten to know other bloggers. Now if I could just find ways to meet more of them in real life! 🙂
Glad to know I’m not the only one a bit confounded by Twitter when first joining- I just signed up last week, expressly for the purpose of connecting with more fitness folks. It may be a while until I get the hang of it, but I feel better knowing I have company! (@eburlij)
keep at it, it will start clicking the more you stay on there!
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