Don't Be a Popufur, Be a Friend

Hello Papabear,

I am wondering how am I supposed to become a popufur since way back then until now. No matter how hard myself trying on improving my conversation between people, fixing up my self-image, making new friends (fur friends and real life human) and learn and googled about how to strike a conversation and keeping it going on, but I failed to do so!

Does Papabear have any valuable advice and guidance that will not only help me improve myself but becoming a popufur I would gladly appreciate and practice until I become a popufur.

Thanks, Papabear. I am looking foward for your reply!

From a shy wolf,
VolkWolf (age 20, Malaysia)

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Dear VolkWolf,

Nice to hear from a furry all the way from Malaysia :-3  I can see you’re learning English pretty well, although still struggling a bit. Because of that, you might not realize what a popufur is. Popufurs are people who want to be popular for the sake of popularity. This might sound cool, but, in truth, it is a very shallow attitude to have. People who desperately seek to have lots of followers on furry and other social websites do so because they wish to be validated. That is, they wish to be seen as valuable furries in the community. Whether or not that attention is deserved is not important; all that matters to a popufur is that he or she be seen as something special and someone to be envied and put on a pedestal.

What you, I hope, really want is to make more friends in the furry community, and to make more connections to people who share your interests both locally and around the world. That is the better goal to set for yourself. Real, true, loyal friends are priceless. Each real friend is worth more than a million groupies who only follow you because you have set yourself up as a “popufur” and they want to join the bandwagon.

How do you make friends? Well, you say you are already doing that, which is great, so perhaps you don’t need any tips, but the way to make friends is to be a friend. Be kind to others, be supportive, be interested in their lives and what they have to say. Don’t do anything to hurt them; don’t betray them; try and always keep your word. No one is a perfect friend (I myself have failed to be one on several occasions, to my regret), but it is something toward which you should always strive.

So, VolkWolf, my advice to you is this: you're asking the wrong question; don’t try to be a popufur; try to be the best friend to others that you can be. Little else matters in this world other than kindness and love. If we all were kind and loving to one another, just think what an amazing world it would be.

Hugs,

Papabear


P.S. If you'll indulge me, this reminds me of a song I love by Steve Martin.