So…….there you are, sitting in your favorite chair, logged in to Facebook, and you say to yourself, …”I think I want to make some new friends on here”. You click on the “suggested friends” button, and immediately are shown all the “friends of friends” whom you would most likely want to know, or may already know (as determined by the Facebook Gods)
Getting enough friend requests?
. But….. after you send out some requests(based on the suggestions of the “gods” no less) these same little gremlins who made the suggestions to begin with are telling you that this request cannot be sent….or threatening you with being “grounded” from sending requests if you send them to people you don’t already know. ok….Wait just one Doggone Minute!! ….Excuuuuse meeee? I thought Facebook was a place to MAKE FRIENDS on the internet?! Can they really suspend my account for sending out friend requests?….yes, yes they can….and they do.
So….. how do you “get around this”, so to speak, and actually make new friends on Facebook?
Maybe you want to use Facebook for business, or maybe you just want to make oodles of random friends to connect with. Attempting to change the world by international communications with people in faraway countries? Trying to “spread the word” about some earth shattering event or topic? Maybe you just want to see how big you can grow your friend list. Whatever your intentions for making friends, here are some proven methods for expanding your facebook empire without fear of “punishment” from the gremlins.
*disclaimer* Take this advice at your OWN RISK. Facebook has policies and rules that they require their users to follow. It is highly suggested that you read the terms of your account and follow the rules like a good little boy or girl…….
that said…..here are my suggestions.
- DO NOT send any friend requests …. that is NOT what you want. You will be “smacked down” very fast if you start sending requests to people you do not actually know. This method will get people to send the friend requests to YOU, so you can pick and choose who to “accept” or not. I repeat….at least until you have a couple thousand friends under your belt, do not send any random friend requests.(by the way… the current limit for friends is 5000)
- Like, like,LIKE, and then like some more. Search for and go to groups, pages and events that you are interested in and would, therefore, likely share other interests as well. Click the “like” button on any post or comment made by anyone who seems to be a good candidate for potential friendship. simply search for your interests in the Facebook search bar at the top. example: home business, woodcrafting, scrapbooking, christianity, sports teams etc. and then click “pages” or “groups” to show pages with that word or phrase in the title. “like” the page….and then start “liking the individual posts on that page. You WILL get friend requests from this. You will get a lot more if you actually comment on their posts and ask them to send you a request(you can obviously copy a short message and paste it into comment fields very quickly and easily. This step alone will yield many friend requests per day.
- Join, Join,Join….and then join some more. Remember the search you just did to find people with like interests? JOIN the groups(some need to be requested, some don’t, on the ones that DO….simply ask to join…and wait to be added by an administrator or member) And LIKE the pages…. keep joining….keep liking.
- Two very magic words….ADD ME. If you are simply looking for random friends from anywhere and everywhere then you will find GREAT success with “Add Me” groups, pages, and events. Simply search the words “add me” and start joining(groups), liking(pages), and attending(events). Then you can simply post the words “add me please” or some similar plea, as your status post in the group, and as a comment on others’ posts. This is VERY effective, and after a few days in a row making a few simple 3 or 4 word posts….the requests for your friendship will start rolling in….
- If you are using your Facebook account for Social Network Marketing, MLM, Affiliate Marketing, and the like…. then you can try searching for groups titled “advertise here” (and similar phrases). What!?….free advertising on facebook? They don’t let you do that do they? Well,…yes and no. If someone starts a group for the purpose of connecting with marketers, and allow just anybody to join and advertise on their page….then do it. You will not only gain more exposure when you post your links, but (remember to “like” their posts and ads too) you will get barrels and barrels of friend requests from these marketers…..growing your list exponentially.
- Look Good! This is a simple concept… but warrants a mention here. The MOST important ingredient could possibly be YOUR PROFILE ITSELF. Make sure to have a decent profile pic of a real person(preferably YOU!) A symbol, or a picture of your cat(unless you are seeking cat lovers) is not nearly as effective as a real live picture of a person….make it a good pic if at all possible, and change your profile pic several times(this gives you more pics for others to see when they look at your profile page. Fill in as many interests and activities on your profile as you can. This simple maintenance of your account will make all the difference….
- Post content to your wall at least every day…. preferably several times per day. (status update) Post quotes, links, videos,pictures, news articles….etc. This makes you more “attractive and interesting” to your friends. If you make friends and then never post any updates, chances are some of your friends will start “unfriending” you due to boredom. Remember, you made these friends for a reason…. try to stay as interesting as possible so you can keep them. One thing that needs mentioned here…if you happen to be one of those rebels that has more than one Facebook account…(of course none of you would actually break one of the rules…so consider this advice to be for “entertainment purposes), then you can try posting a link to the profile of the other account(this could even be a friend you are helping grow their own list) and politely ask your friends to send this person a friend request. You could even say something nice and flattering like “add mary as a friend…. she is really cool” …use discression with this and remember Facebooks rules.
- Interact, message,poke,and chat. …Let your friends know that you are there (and real) from time to time. Answer your messages when appropriate… and generally be sociable when and where you can comfortably do so. Ask people to suggest you as a friend (you would be surprised at how effective this can be. Also…. people will be more likely to share YOUR posts and requests if you share THEIRS from time to time. This is your little social empire…. enjoy it. Meet new people….learn new things….and you will start seeing friend requests pouring in from all over cyberspace before you know it!
