I agree there has to be something to start with. Of course every friendship starts with a hello, but some more should follow fairly quickly. And if either one feels the need to ask to be friends when nothing grows naturally, it's not going to work...

Haven’t had anyone beg to be my friend. But generally when friendship happens, it evolves naturally over time spent in the public portion of the site. When that process gets circumvented and jumps directly to messaging, it usually doesn’t work very well and I let them know that I’m not comfortable with that but will be happy to see them out on the boards.

seems abit forced :/
if its clicking the friend button here they might just want to see if there are 'friend only' pictures, im not sure

Agreed. I often tell people here, friendships evolve "organically"—at least that’s been my experience. I never push anyone away, but if it seems like they’re trying way too hard that can be a red flag.

Some common ground is required to form friendships...esp line of thinking plus common interests.

Friendship is an investment with purpose.
I do not like low quality, low value ones.

If you are a good friend of mine, I will.show care and comfort. Same applies to the other.

I like people who can dig more to find out more about a person , not just look at their faces and profiles.

I never had someone beg me for friendships, few random scam profiles messaged me hi.

There has to be some sort of connection made. I’ve had some try that here and then they make it such hard work, especially if I’m not on hand when they are here.. I don’t have time for that. I prefer the ones that are a surprise. I don’t mind if people are just nervous or not confident because you can generally bring them out of their shell.

Never had that happen on here or real life.

Although on my other forum, I had one or two men from other countries beg me to marry them. Usually from places like Tunisia.

EDIT - in their defense, we had talked for like five whole minutes before they finally popped the question.

Well... I saw a post I would love to be that persons friend as we share a common interest. I commented on the post. I did not send a message as I felt the friendship should begin organically in the open before taking it to a DM.

I don't beg for a friend because that sort of start would... be a great burden to carry.

Begging to be a friend would come across as a bit off to me. The arc of a friendship should happen organically and naturally. I would be a little put off if someone genuinely begged me. I would be compassionate and let them know my boundaries to start though. You never know what someone is going through and what leads to that behavior

I agree that friendship develops on its own.

Some people have actually made public posts asking, "who wants to be my friend". I am skeptical to say the least.

I have had a few PMs from strangers who have wanted me to get into personal conversations immediately, and I ignored those people.

I’ve never had anybody here beg to be my friend and I would definitely think it was weird and I would probably block them lol

I've often thought that if you had to work so hard at it that it may not be the friendship for you. It's funny how some people can just start to talk and things gel very quickly.

How strange. Not that I can recall, seems desperate. I believe they should happen naturally, no forcing.
But I'm not interested in getting close to anyone on SM now. I don't have the time nor inclination.

Begging to be someone’s friend doesn’t make sense. Getting to know someone and then becoming friends sounds more legit.

Never had anyone beg to be a friend. 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is over a lifetime.

No one’s ever begged lol.

The majority of my interactions are on posts. I barely have enough time for RL folks.

Id think they were trying to get my kidney

The evolution of a friendship should occur naturally. I can't say that I have had anyone beg to be my friend or vice-versa. I think I'd find it a little odd for a person to repeatedly ask me to be their friend. I'd question their motive(s).

Why would I do that? I've rarely met a man on here who is able to string together a single coherent sentence, let alone keep enough conversation going to create a friendship.

I haven’t had anyone beg for my friendship… I did have one who was persistent in asking me to accept their friend request. This after they showed their true colours.

I have not had anyone beg to be my friend. Like you say, it's something that just happens over time without being forced or planned.

🎶Why can't we be friends...why can't we be friends 🎶

On EP someone sent this to me by private messages

No, I've never. But if they did, I'd be seriously perplexed!

No. I’ve had people make demands of me here though. I unadded them, and they flipped out and started slinging accusations of my character, so I ended up blocking them. Extremely disturbing behavior.

I've have some weirdos demand my attention once in awhile. They always start off the conversation super weird. That being said the friends I did have on here are mostly gone, they've had enough of SW and I can't say I blame them.

@RubySoo 🤔would be rather a smack of desperate too me but i am soft hearted and swallow a swab story so i would friendship a chance with them

I have had amazing interactions out of the blue, others that built.

But this isn't as immediate as going to the same corner diner all the time, and people fall away, pass away, go away, etc.

I think it happens. Can’t force those things.

Unless it just "happens" it's not normal

totally agree :)

I had one woman ask to be friends, and as soon as I accepted her friend request, she stopped talking to me. So, I removed her.

I've had friendships go WAY sour here, then said former friend went WAY over the edge about why, after having explained it....

Nope. True friendship happens automatically. ☺️🕊️

Never had anyone beg for it. That does seem a bit odd, but then again there are good people out there whose simply had experiences (or lack thereof) that lead to some, in my opinion, awkwardness in interactions.

That said, I do feel that true friendship isn't something that comes from putting a title on it. Going "wanna be friends? okay" doesn't actually establish a friendship... the actual interactions do.

Whether or not I'd give them a chance is something I'd have to make a gut feeling decision on. Without knowing anything else, chances are I probably wouldn't. Nothing inherently negative against them per se, I just think that if that is their "social language" (for lack of a better term) then we're very likely far too different to mesh well together.

And my social batteries are very low too. I already barely have enough for the very few friends and family I do have in my life, so I'm picky, for my own health and the health of current relations. Maybe they're a good person, I'm sure there are folks that would be a great friendship match for them... but most likely not me.

If I did give them a chance though and it just doesn't work out... well, I do find that tough to deal with. If we don't gel that doesn't mean I think them a bad person, that they are awful or undeserving or not worth anything. Just different pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of life. Doesn't mean there is something wrong with them, just not the right fit.

But at least in places like this there are a lot of people who are fragile and/or will take it personally if you do tell them "this isn't working out". On one hand I'd want to say that to them, on the other I don't want to them to end up feeling discouraged or afraid to try to build relations with other people later. At the end of the day however I solve it I do have to look out for myself.

The way I see it you don't become a friend by asking. Calling someone a friend is more a way of expressing a feeling and explaining a connection over time.

I have had men beg me to answer their PM and I think that’s weird.

Friendships just happen organically, you can’t force them. That is weird.