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"Real life" friends - met by chance

Internet friends - met by interest

I think that says it all - I've met many internet people over the years, and they've all been the most incredible, 'three-dimensional' people. The internet really opens up the opportunity to meet people you can relate to on every level - people you'd never have gotten in touch with otherwise.

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I wouldn't make that distinction. I met most of my "real life" friends at various events. Going to something like a Python meetup in your city is just as much "by interest" as visiting a #python irc channel. And I met one of my best friends on irc by chance (we have no interests in common).

About five years ago online dating was looked down upon but since then i have been seeing lot of people getting married to people they found online. Same way finding interesting friends is best done 1-1, as its rhe depth not the breadth of the relationship that matters. Its the same reason i use [and started] http://letslunch.com and have met over a dozen great people over lunch, Because frankly i don't have time to goto meetups which happens on a specific day and on specific time, wheres in conferences/networking events people are always ought to meet as many people as possible and even while chatting without you, they are peeking over your shoulder to see who they are going to talk next.

It used to be looked down upon because there was a connotation that you just couldn't make it in your own circles, but eventually people figured out there were real pros.

Have you thought about opening letslunch in other cities? Whether it be doing it yourself, having others do it or open sourcing the code. It should work equally well in certain other cities or regions.

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