— Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

The Next Facebook – Making Friends With Strangers You Like

I forget where I read this, but basically if you come across someone on Facebook who you like, you can “follow” them. But if you are strangers to each other, there’s unlikely to ever be a real social connection, because it would be creepy to ask to be their friend.

My daughter recently changed primary schools. One of her tactics to make new friends was to take toys to school, like her La La Loopsy doll. All she had to was play with it and others who liked that kind of toy would come over and ask to play with her. She didn’t even have to say anything… Too easy!

So how can you break the ice with strangers you might want to befriend online – show them your toys!

1. Follow someone – see their updates to whatever degree their settings allow (already exists on FB)

2. Someone with followers can allow the followers to show them their toys – to be added manually rather than as part of an automatic feed:

Playlist on Spotify
Purchases
Books being read
Blog posts
Photos

3. If they like anything that was shared, they can share back or comment on what was shared, instantly creating a shared, private sharing area.

4. It would add an extra level of being a fan of someone famous, if there was the possibility that they would look at your toys and perhaps even comment back.