Social Networking – Online Only is not Enough

I seem to have so much less time than I once did. Commitments at work and other commitments to family, sport and hobbies leaves little time to meet new people and make friends? Is there a better way these days?

Join a friend network online. 

Friend networks are a sub-set of social networks but with an emphasis on making friends and meeting people. There are several social networking sites with Global focus but I am interested only in a friend network that is local. This could be local to my country – too wide, local to my sate – still too wide or perhaps to my community. Now that’s what I am after; a friend network within my immediate community. I can explain the reasons…

If you are like me then you don’t just want to make friends online. I want to use the online community to find friends and to communicate with them regularly. I also want to extend my friendships beyond just online. Although the internet has changed so much in recent years and has become much more sophisticated in meeting the needs of social networking users, there is no substitute for in-person contact.

Human relationships are personal. I want to extend my online relationships to the real world. Ideally, I can meet up with people I meet and get to know online and when appropriate to invite one or maybe more of them to meet with me for coffee or some other activity. So it makes sense for me to find a friend network that is local because I don’t want to travel across the country to meet.

So what functionality am I looking for in a friend network or social networking site? The most important capabilities include such things as blogs, a photo gallery, smiles pack, speed dating, search facility, cupid mail, matchmaking, guestbook, ability to limit access to my profile to only my friends etc. I am also keen to enjoy communication channels such as chat, audio/video instant messaging, a whiteboard, a music player and video player. Where can I find such a network in Australia? Well I have found one that might work for me - Linkau.

Once you register, you can select the communities that you with to belong to. If you choose to belong to a national community, you can. If you want to belong to a smaller community such as your town or city, you can. At the moment, there is just one downside – not many people have subscribed yet.

The Linkau network is still new to Australia so there are not yet many subscribers. It supports the concept of community networks and has all the facilities I need. However, I think this will change. I really hope it does and that is part of the reason for writing this article. I would like to encourage more people to join the friend network because if they do then Linkau will take off and I will be much more likely to meet people and mane friends in my local community.

The Online Friend Network is a great place to get started and to make friends online with people of similar interests. If you are anything like me then you want a facility that saves you time, is local to your community and enables you to develop friendships that extend beyond just online.

If you are looking for a place to make friends in your local Australian community, consider a friend network with community portals. This will enable you to extend friendships beyond just the internet.