Social Networking

Greetings Papa Bear;

My fandom experience has taken somewhat of a left turn. Although I'm extremely pleased to be in such a large fandom, I'm also only sixteen, and it's hard for me to find opportunities to get in contact with other members!

I've tried places such as FurryMUCK, however, it was difficult because the people there already knew each other so well that it was almost impossible to start finding a way to join the conversation. I'm still sanguine about this one, though. Anything with RP and my name is plastered amongst it.

Furthermore, large websites like FurAffinity scare the beggeesus out of me! I'm not sure why, though, other than the fact that my experience on their forum was horrendous. (>:P)

Please teach me your ways, sensei! Teach me to be a prospering member of the fandom!

--Kandle

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Dear Kandle,

You don’t say whether you have gone to any furry meets or cons, so we will start by addressing your social networking online. There are many websites out there in the furry community, as you know, FurAffinity and FurryMUCK being only two of them. It sounds like you’re a little intimidated by large groups, so let’s start by thinking smaller. Here are a couple of strategies:

1) Have you looked into local furry groups? I belong to a couple here in southern California, including the Inland Empire Furries Association, SoCal Furs, and San Diego Furries. Instead of joining a large furry site (if that intimidates you) look for a smaller group and try and participate in local meets.

2) Start your own small group. Some sites, such as Furry4Life and Facebook, allow you to create your own group. It can be based on a personal interest, a geographical location, or any other standard you wish to create. This will give you a more limited number of furries to deal with and, since you created the group yourself, you won’t feel like you are joining something already in progress where relationships are already established and you think you’ll have a hard time joining in the dialog.

Online networking aside, I would, again, encourage you to try and meet other furries IRL at local meets or, perhaps, a small con.

Hope this helps, Kandle!

Big Bear Hugs!

Papabear