Anyone ever tried this?

[danstelter]

I am still getting used to the forum lifestyle and whatnot, and I would like your feedback on this topic. Does anybody here make friends on this forum and then meet in real life? I mean, even like phone buddies. A powerful way of recovering from anxiety is having someone to talk to the phone on about this condition; being able to vent to someone who understands is very helpful for recovery from anxiety. And, to push it a step further, has anyone met in real life? Another great way of conquering anxiety, especially social anxiety, would be for people to meet in real life. A future idea could be to have a meeting with socially anxious people in a certain city/region. What better way to recover from anxiety than by meeting with other people who struggle with the same difficulty? Everyone would be on the same page, realizing that everyone around them is socially anxious! I would just like everyone's feedback on this idea!

 

[Hoth]

Go for it. You have to live in a densely populated area or be rich to be able to meet people in person though. I met a group from another SA forum once, was as awkward and felt as alien as possible and wasn't invited back, but it wasn't the end of the world and I'd do it again given opportunity.

I wouldn't do the phone thing, though, because oddly enough I find it more stressful to talk on the phone than in person.

 

[danstelter]

Interesting...thanks for the feedback! Yes, I agree, it would have to be a densely populated area, or you would just have to get lucky and have several users living near one another. I'm just trying to come up with other ideas. Maybe people could form virtual groups of some sort based on common interests? Guys like to play games, so that's a possibility. Females are more social though and generally less into the whole computer thing...not sure if that would work well.

 

[Hoth]

I suspect the majority of females posting here have used a computer and aren't very social.

Games are a good idea. People in this site's chat room that I can never get into anymore were always playing some sort of board game. And I've played reversi (to win) and chess (to be clobbered) with online friends from time to time.