While online friends are great to have for a variety of reasons, there's nothing like a friend you can see in person. There is a connection that happens when you spend time with someone and it can't be replaced by a computer screen. 

Online friends are good and serve their purpose. They're especially helpful when you’re new in town, when you work odd hours, or even when you work from home. But there’s nothing like face-to-face contact when it comes to friendship, so turning some of those online friendships into real-life relationships can help you feel more connected.

But how do you do that without it being creepy or odd? Here are some tips.

Bring Up the Idea of an Offline Meeting and Gage the Response

You might be surprised at how many people are looking for friendship in this world. So telling your online group that you’d be interested in a meeting somewhere out may be met with eager responses. If that’s the case, read on to the next step. If not, decide what the response you received means. Did anyone respond to you? Did they seem leery about meeting you or just timid about the idea as a whole?

With the prevalence of online groups and Internet dating today, many people are comfortable with meeting people in the real world. But not everyone shares this view. So if your request to meet in person has been ignored or received negatively, give it some time. Perhaps your request just came too early to be comfortable.

Another option is to get to know people with a video chat like Skype. This may help them feel better about getting to know you and finding out what you’re all about.

Meet at a Coffee Shop or Other Public and Well Attended Place

Coffee shops are a good place to meet online friends because they’re centrally located and you can come and go easily. Even if you’re sitting there waiting for someone, it’s less awkward because you can grab your cup of coffee and something to read and just relax. This type of atmosphere encourages good conversation and acceptance. It allows you and your online friend to drive separately (so you feel safe and comfortable), hang out and feel at ease, and leave and go back home.

Before you meet your friend, set up the expectation that you can only meet for an hour or so. This will help you get a sense of the person and still gives you the safety net of leaving after an hour without issue. You don’t need to make excuses or feel weird about going home when you’ve already told them you can only meet for an hour. 

Meet as a Group

You may want to bring a friend along when you meet someone new, but be careful with this. Your online friend might feel a little intimidated if you bring a friend and they’re alone.

A better option is to have a bunch of people from the online group meet so you’re all on equal footing. This way, each one of you is new and meeting each other for the first time. It will help you bond and get to know each other a little bit better than if you had already had a good friend along. 

Following Up

So you’ve had your meeting at the coffee shop, you left after an hour, and now you’re home. What next? This is a good time to reflect back about how you felt meeting your friend in person. Did you have fun? Was this person someone you’d like to know better?

The advantage of meeting an online friend is that you can still continue your friendship online while also getting together occasionally. This can help you ease into a genuine friendship. Remember that one or two meetings doesn’t give you a sense of the person. You still need to get to them slowly over time.

But the good news is that once an initial meeting is made, it will be easier to schedule things. Always use your best judgment and take safety precautions until you feel totally comfortable with your friend. Just because you see their online posts doesn’t mean you know them like you would a real-life friend. Allow the friendship to develop in its own time.