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How do you folks meet your internet friends and what sites/apps do you have the best luck on in regards to making said friends? Do you believe in friendship through the internet? What's the best story you have about making friends over the Internet?

I personally went through a rough platonic breakup with an internet friend - whom I will miss dearly since making friends when you're extremely shy/lonely is HARD and such friends are a blessing- and I'd like to hear people's opinions/stories/etc on the topic.

This is a hard one to answer! I never quite go anywhere with the intention of making friends explicitly. I just go there to have a good time, and whomever I end up meshing well with becomes a friend.

I definitely do! Most of my friendships are online. The best stories are that a close internet friend helped me find a passion for Virtual Assistant work, which turned into a combo with Quality Assurance work, which has now contributed to my leading choice for a Webdeveloper college education that will help me work my way out of disability. I've never met this friend in person but to say they've made an impact in my (real) life is a massive understatement.

To top this off, basically every online friend has enriched my life in one way or another. I've had the great pleasure of meeting friends in person from all over the world, including Mori here on RPR (who is my long lost sister as we actually look a lot alike apparently!). I love and adore my online friends because they accept me for who I am, all my quirks included, and make me want to be a better person.

I'm sincerely sorry about the friendship you lost. Just because it's an internet friend doesn't mean it hurts less, or was a less valuable friendship! Things like this happen though, and I think a good lesson to take away from this is that not every friendship is meant to last, but every friendship teaches you new life lessons and enriches you with knowledge and experiences that contribute to your future - even the ones that end in heartbreak.

As for being shy and having difficulty making friends, that's absolutely okay. The important thing is to recognize you are worthy of friendship, even if you find it difficult to connect. Finding people you have things in common with and just having fun together is already worth so much, even if you remain acquaintances. Sooner or later you'll make new friend after new friend, I promise!

I know oLuna and I have met a lot of friends through this site! We tend to message people to say hi and make friends that way. (incidentally, that's how Luna + I met, and now we've been dating for almost six months )
Other than RPR, I've had luck through Tumblr, but RPR is my most successful platform. I met a bunch of very close friends through Tumblr, because of sharing a love for musical theatre.

The best story I have about friends through the internet is definitely meeting Luna. She offered to fight me in front of Tescos. It was love at first fight. We then bonded through talking about our kids; she's the reason my kids are as developed as they are. We spend a lot of time world-building together, and literally all of our OCs are linked (the family tree is massive and excessively complicated).

As Sanne said, online friendships can definitely have a very positive influence on you! Luna, for instance, has taught me patience. She also claims she's the rational one in our relationship. Honestly, she's right, but we don't need to feed her god complex even more by telling her that.

I'm sorry to hear about your platonic breakup. That's always difficult, but hopefully it's for the best. You'll absolutely make new friends! If you ever want to chat/make friends, Luna and I are pretty much always around - feel free to come chat to us!

As a shy and timid thing, I can attest to how hard it is to make friends on the internet as well. So when you find those besties and closest ones, I agree to hold onto them tight! I haven't had a friend like that in a long while, but I'm sure I'll meet someone nice soon enough!

I also know your pain of losing a friend on the internet, and it stings worse if you've met them in real. But no matter if you've met them in real life or not, it always hurts to lose someone close to you. But you seem like a nice person to talk to, and brave enough to share things like this to all of us, so I'm sure you'll find all the friends and comfort you need in no time!

Do I believe in internet friendships? Well, some may say that internet friendship is not as deep or superficial because of the strong chance that you'll never meet, or that it means little to nothing compared to actual real life touch and contact... Not me, though! Even if you never do meet for real, there's always a spark there, you know? A brilliant spark, and that means so much to someone like me.

That and sometimes, real life contact isn't all it's cracked up to be... More so if you're uber-shy and not good at talking to real people. (Which makes me even more nervous, because I am indeed meeting someone in real life that I met online very soon.) Internet friendships or romantic relationships, as long as real life feelings are there, it's real to me. So yes, I do believe in it.

What's the best story I have about internet friendships? Well, if I had to say... It would be meeting my boyfriend Lily Bean! We started as friends first, and I wanted to stay that way. However, a curious turn of events saw us dating each other, and well... The rest is history. I've never met such a positive and reassuring influence in my life, so I have to agree with Sanne: I wouldn't be who or where I am right now without him and all the people I've met online!

I actually met my husband through writing online. I have made multiple long lasting friends this way as well.

The internet is not some way of controlling or limiting a meaningful friendship with anyone. There are no specific apps that I have found that guarantee meeting up in person but it's rather something you plan with those friends to try and meet up. Do be careful of this and take meet ups with a dash of salt and caution.

As for them being as real as in person friendships? Gods absolutely! I have friends over the internet who I consider closer and more loved than some of my family.

This is a great topic by the way!