Yolanda G.

I have been a member of Interpals for 7 months now. I do think it is possible to make genuine people, as I have made 5 real people on the site since joining. One tip is to be quite specific in your profile message on your home page what you are and are not looking for e.g. you are looking for friends to engage in real conversation, and not looking for romance. I think the more things you put about yourself such as your interest, hobbies, etc, more people tend to show interest. I do agree however that there are a lot of time wasting people on the site, particularly men, who are looking to flirt, and use the site as a dating website! However there is a facility on the website to block unwanted messages and contact from particular people or countries if they are reoccurring. The thought of potentially meeting and making lots of friends from around the world, is exciting, however the reality is, that out of every 20 you contact, you probably will make one or two real friends. So it better to put your time and effort into developing friendships with a handful of people, than lots and waste your time, looking for new people every time you log on to build your circles it is tempting especially when you see different faces all the time!. The reality also, is that a lot of people have already established friendships or contact with a number of people on the site, and no matter how attractive your photo is, they just don't have the time to take on any more friends, so they wont respond. Don't take it personal, just understand. It might be an idea to search for new members, who are just starting out on Interpals, as they will be a lot more enthusiastic, and likely to respond. Also when contacting some one directly, say more than 'hi' or 'how are you' introduce yourself, give a reason why you are on interpals, and state a few of your interest and a couple of lines about yourself. You will come across as more serious, and stand out from those one word one liner messagers. If you manage to establish good trusting connection with others, rather than loose their friendship, it might be an idea to exchange email, Skype, or Whats app, once you become comfortable with each other, as this way you can maintain contact even if they stop using interpals for a while, and it also helps to sustain the friendship.

Well I hope this helps, and good luck!