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Post by PhotoJim on May 14, 2020 22:31:24 GMT
I've only been here a few months, but I've met some really interesting people and have gotten some really interesting letters from people here. I have zero complaints.
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Post by michelleg on Jul 9, 2020 11:55:47 GMT
Ugh - what is up with Global Pen Friends? I just joined that site (for free) and have sent out several emails and nothing! I even put a sassy photo of myself up on there and I' pretty sure my mini bio is non-threatening. Is it just me?? Or have those of you who've signed up for that found things to be dead as a door nail on there?
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Post by ginny on Jul 9, 2020 16:46:15 GMT
Ugh - what is up with Global Pen Friends? I just joined that site (for free) and have sent out several emails and nothing! I even put a sassy photo of myself up on there and I' pretty sure my mini bio is non-threatening. Is it just me?? Or have those of you who've signed up for that found things to be dead as a door nail on there? I was there for a while last year and met some fab people. Maybe people are more reserved and reluctant to meet new people at the moment because they're all wrapped up in their own little worlds due to the Covid situation? Not sure. In any event, I wish you good luck. Give it some time, and maybe you'll meet some great people, too  |
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Post by michelleg on Jul 10, 2020 1:52:01 GMT
Well, what do you know - I posted that and tonight, got my first response on GPF! Woohoo! Crossing fingers!
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Post by ginny on Jul 10, 2020 11:08:52 GMT
Well, what do you know - I posted that and tonight, got my first response on GPF! Woohoo! Crossing fingers! Good luck then! I hope it works out for you! I know that some people there choose not to get e-mail notifications when someone messages them (not sure why anyone would do that when they don't go to a site regularly, but well, different strokes for different folks!), so depending on what happens in life, they might miss receiving a message or find it days (if not weeks) later.
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Post by ginny on Jul 10, 2020 11:17:42 GMT
We found it good originally but left the site at the beginning of the year when it felt stale. Not a lot of new people coming in and those that were there didn't seem too interested. However, good luck with finding some pen friends. We found a few terrific friends there (and quite a few who were not) That's my general impression of penpal sites, anyway - you can find good friends anywhere, it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
I asked one of my penfriends (whom I met via Penpal World) about her experiences, and she said that many people start out excitedly, and then the enthusiasm peters out after a while. Partly because she takes a while to respond, apparently (which doesn't bother me at all as her letters are worth the wait for me), partly because she types her letters (she says so right from the start), partly because they - particularly if they are new to corresponding with penfriends - realise it's not only about getting nice things in the mail, but also about taking one's time to get to know the person and write back, etc.
Overall, my experiences with Global Penfriends were better than with Penpal World, but I know that doesn't say much - it's just my personal observation and surely cannot be generalised for everyone.
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Post by michelleg on Jul 10, 2020 12:52:08 GMT
ginny, did GPF ever feel like a dating site? It says in their policies that it is not and my profile was declined at first I guess because I put my height in there....but reading a lot of the profiles on there, it sure feels like many of the guys are looking for more than pen friendship!
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Post by Mia on Jul 10, 2020 13:51:17 GMT
I think I joined Penpal World, but didn't really like it. I liked the way profiles are in Interpals, but I haven't had much joy with finding longlasting penpals there. I don't regret trying there as I discovered Postcrossing. I've been looking through my old emails to see if I could find a login. No luck, but did find a few other sites I had joined including a few defunct sites. I even found a proboards forum I tried to join - still awaiting approval after 5 years (May 2015).
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Post by ginny on Jul 10, 2020 16:39:20 GMT
ginny , did GPF ever feel like a dating site? It says in their policies that it is not and my profile was declined at first I guess because I put my height in there....but reading a lot of the profiles on there, it sure feels like many of the guys are looking for more than pen friendship! No, it didn't feel like a dating site to me - but that's because I deliberately only looked for female pals on there and had my settings accordingly. I have made not-so-great experiences on other sites (like Penpal World, where you can only block individuals, but not certain age ranges, and you cannot specify that you only want male / female penfriends - whoever wants to write to you will write to you). I did read a bunch of profiles that guys had set up, and some seemed to be genuinely looking for correspondence while others - well, more than that. As on all penpal sites, you have a mix of great / suitable and not so great / suitable ads / profiles
Out of curiosity, why would you put your height in a profile?
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Post by Catida on Jul 11, 2020 18:27:25 GMT
I have been in Penpal World for a while now. Haven't found anyone I'd like to correspond with. Seems to me there are very few people who are actually looking for penpals. A lot more of those who want to interact online via e-mails or social media. And I get the impression that many are also hoping for more than friendship, even if they can't say it directly as it's forbidden in the site rules.
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Post by michelleg on Jul 11, 2020 18:47:52 GMT
ginny , did GPF ever feel like a dating site? It says in their policies that it is not and my profile was declined at first I guess because I put my height in there....but reading a lot of the profiles on there, it sure feels like many of the guys are looking for more than pen friendship!
Out of curiosity, why would you put your height in a profile?
Looked at a few profiles and some of those had it, so thought I needed to put it in mine. (shoulder shrug) hence why I was teeny bit miffed. Seemed like a double standard. I mean, seriously, some of the profiles right out say things like - "hoping to find the true one here through pen palling." |
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Post by ginny on Jul 11, 2020 21:13:20 GMT
michelleg, I see! And yes, you are right, some people are quite clear about trying to find 'the one'. I updated my profile a couple of times, and apparently, they check each time if the content is appropriate. Once, my update was rejected because I said I was a free member (which implies that some random profiles are restricted and you cannot reply to them), and I was quite miffed with that. Also, I thought it was odd that some of the folks I met on there kept getting free credits so they could contact people, and I ended up getting none after a while. I checked their faq for finding out if they had a rule about whom they granted credits, and apparently they give them at random. Thought that's weird. But I'm not complaining. I found some great friends there, so it's all good.
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Post by michelleg on Jul 12, 2020 2:23:21 GMT
michelleg , I see! And yes, you are right, some people are quite clear about trying to find 'the one'. I updated my profile a couple of times, and apparently, they check each time if the content is appropriate. Once, my update was rejected because I said I was a free member (which implies that some random profiles are restricted and you cannot reply to them), and I was quite miffed with that. Also, I thought it was odd that some of the folks I met on there kept getting free credits so they could contact people, and I ended up getting none after a while. I checked their faq for finding out if they had a rule about whom they granted credits, and apparently they give them at random. Thought that's weird. But I'm not complaining. I found some great friends there, so it's all good. Oh wow! Didn't know that about the free member status. I ended up paying so I could see who's looked at my profile or sent me "smiles." So far I'm writing to one British gent and one Korean; messaged several ladies with similar interests and had one send me a really weird message. Not sure what's going on there. Nothing from anyone else yet. Yes, I saw that too about credits - really odd system! |
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Post by ginny on Jul 12, 2020 11:43:50 GMT
Oh wow! Didn't know that about the free member status. I ended up paying so I could see who's looked at my profile or sent me "smiles." So far I'm writing to one British gent and one Korean; messaged several ladies with similar interests and had one send me a really weird message. Not sure what's going on there. Nothing from anyone else yet. Yes, I saw that too about credits - really odd system! You can always see who sends you smiles, even as a free member. I wasn't curious enough pay for seeing who had looked at my profile - I figured they'd get in touch if they were interested. Penpal World has a different system, there you can see who looked at your profile as a free member, but you don't get a link or a name - you can, however, find those people if you know how to search as you see their profile picture and get basic info on where they are from and how old they are.
I'm OK with the restrictions that you have to live with as a free member of these platforms - after all, those who run the platforms want to make money, they aren't out there to be philantropic. But that random credit system didn't seem fair. Have a rule, please, so people know what to expect.
Anyway - as I said, good luck, and I hope you'll enjoy the site.
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Post by summer87 on Jul 14, 2020 16:25:23 GMT
All these sites mentioned are new to me. Very interesting too. Has anybody tried the app called slowly? (available on play store). It takes the concept of snail mail - but digital, like sending an email..but will take time to "reach" the other person based on the location. Somebody closer to my home will get the mail faster than somebody outside the country I'm in (2-3 days). They have a selection of country specific digital stamps to send along with each mail. I joined in 2018..and must've sent more than 100 letters by now. Most people join just to see how it works maybe?..so Ghosting happens frequently, but I guess it can happen with snail-mail correspondence too. So far, I made 3 REALLY good friends. We now send emails instead  We can choose which country, age, gender, interests (options available within app) etc we are looking for . In the "auto-match" option, the app gives us around 3 profiles of random people to write to based on our preference; or we can choose to from 100s of profiles. There's no word limit but only 5 pics per letter can be sent (if both parties give permission for photo sharing). Here is the website: www.getslowly.com/en/ |
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