Making friends on this forum

This is a genuine curiosity I have. I've noticed from some posts and replies I've read that it sounds like some people here are friends with each other - I'm not sure what that means exactly, but let's say at least that those people seem to communicate with each other on a regular basis, maybe it means more. My question is how did these develop? When I consider the stages of making friends, in my life it seems to go:

  1. Meeting someone new, have basic conversations with them
  2. ??? (Something happens here which I don't understand)
  3. I now have a friend

So I always seem perpetually stuck at steps 1 and 3. I'm interested in other people's experiences.

Parents
  • I have had a few public interactions with someone, I then request to be their friend on here, and spend a bit more time in private messages getting to know them a bit more. 

    Sometimes it develops, other times not. In the cases where it develops, I politely ask if I can reach them on a different platform (where it's easier to keep up a conversation).

    It's a bit of a lottery but me personally, I don't go into those conversations expecting to make a friend. I just aim to get a feel for them and see how it goes.

Reply
  • I have had a few public interactions with someone, I then request to be their friend on here, and spend a bit more time in private messages getting to know them a bit more. 

    Sometimes it develops, other times not. In the cases where it develops, I politely ask if I can reach them on a different platform (where it's easier to keep up a conversation).

    It's a bit of a lottery but me personally, I don't go into those conversations expecting to make a friend. I just aim to get a feel for them and see how it goes.

Children