Here are the six best ways to learn how to make friends online and find companions with whom you can share similar interests like never before
Creating and sustaining meaningful friendships seems challenging to keep up in the long run. Although it may even be considerably simpler to form connections in an online class with the power of technology today.
A common myth that parents believe is that online classes can make students socially awkward. However, this is not true. Before the digital age, students had to wait days for the schools/classes to reopen to share their study materials and interact over everyday things. Rather, those times were difficult for students to reach out to their peers to nurture their bonds.
In a traditional classroom setting, teachers influence students to make seat arrangements, not providing them the liberty to choose like-minded peers for themselves. Students are compelled to start conversations with those sitting next to them, who may not be individuals they like.
However, in an online school/class, students can learn about their classmates through different activities and interactions, allowing them to choose groups or peers with whom they can gel, share similar thoughts/beliefs, or become their best selves around them.
In fact, “How to make friends online?” is a perfect question to ask yourself to think about techniques to break the ice at the beginning. Online students are prepared to evolve as self-initiators to connect with classmates, create solid and valuable friendships, and support and motivate their academic and professional success.
To encourage students to build meaningful friendships in an online school/class, let’s read through how to make friends in an online school/class that becomes much more socially enriching than campus life.
- Face-to-Face and Active Participation during live classes:
Always switch your camera on to interact face-to-face with eye contact. The process allows your peers to notice your mood and body language and better understand you as an individual. Turning on the camera enables our communication to flourish in different ways, like showing sentiment and expression, which can help you make the conversation engaging with online friends.
When you actively engage in the online class through active listening, asking questions, and giving your opinions on topics, it helps your classmates recognize you when initiating a conversation later and helps them understand how well you carry yourself. It shows that you are interested and encourages new ideas and debates. You won’t become “roll number 21”; instead, you’ll be “(Your name) who stirred up the point during the discussion on the menstrual cycle.”
- Don’t be afraid to be the first:
An online school/class setting will provide you multiple opportunities to work on projects in collaborative groups or put you in breakout sessions for various activities to work as a team. Be the first to break the ice by initiating a conversation.
You can greet everybody and ask questions as simple as “Did everyone here understand the activity that has been given?”. Or you can ask, “Are we all on the same page as I am with the activity given, or is anybody a little confused?” so they feel safe and comfortable sharing their views. And you can have a deeper discussion on a personal level until you feel the person I’m sharing with is someone I can trust after establishing a connection.
- Join unofficial chat groups:
An unofficial discussion or study group is the best way to hang out and get to know your classmates/peers personally. Not only can you turn your classroom doubts into a class-related conversation, but you can also share things about yourself and get comfortable sharing your interests, fun stories, humor, goals, and views on new things. Student groups provide incredible opportunities to socialize and help one another.
- Join or Start your virtual networking clubs for social events and virtual festivals:
Online schools/classes offer various extracurricular activities where you might find yourself participating to showcase your talent and learn to do your best. For this reason, online schools develop clubs for art, dance, writing, and more where you can network with students who like the same activity as you. Online schools/classes are also open to students from all over the country and across the globe, which gives you the exposure to interact with students from diverse cultural backgrounds who share similar interests and is a fantastic way to get to know one another well. You can consider joining these clubs or creating one yourself to have a fun experience in an online school/class.
- Check on your Friends:
Be it an offline class or an online class, if you don’t genuinely make an effort to get to know the person you’re friends with or care for one another, then it doesn’t matter where you both have met. Many of your classmates would seem more afraid than usual to make friends or initiate conversations in an online school/class. Start reaching out to them by making genuine efforts to get to know them as people.
You could meet one of the most amazing people who are introverted. They need to feel assured that they are safe with you and comfortable being themselves around you. You can ask them, “Are you a book or movie person?”. Or you can find “Best questions to ask your friends to get to know them well” on Google. Not only creating friendships but also listening to your friends with love and sometimes being there for them when they need you can help you form long-lasting friendships online.
- Organize an in-person meetup for outdoor activities:
Many online schools organize outdoor activities, days out, summer camps, picnics, and luncheons where online friendships will experience a fun and exciting day. However, if you and your online classmates live in different prime locations, then planning a trip to a central location can be an immensely delightful and memorable experience.
Therefore, you can build long-lasting friendships through an online school/class. Still, you and your friends must make efforts, be creative, and be innovative to perform new activities together to keep the spark burning. Practice gratitude, love, and patience with one another to understand your online friends better over time.
Making friends can take time and would demand respect and effort from both sides, whereas it is untrue to assume that an online environment doesn’t provide you with enough opportunities to make friends.
Join Cyboard, India’s Best Online School, which strives to deliver a structured-systematic-safe learning curriculum. At Cyboard School, students have access to highly-qualified subject matter experts in a live teacher model classroom with a user-friendly and innovative LMS (Learning Management System) powered by AI that helps to understand students’ body language.
To add value to student development, they get personalized learning tailored to their talents and interests from the safety of their homes. Enroll pre-schoolers and primary-schoolers to access activities like summer camps, dance classes, day trips, and the regular celebration of events around the calendar months.
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