When I first started blogging, I thought, “What has our society come too?”

We sit at our computers, “talk” to others and how sad is that? We should be doing things the good old-fashioned way:

Stage One: Visit/talk

Stage Two: Coffee

Stage Three: A glass of wine with cheese and crackers

Stage Four: Dinner invitation

Stage Five: Long-term friendship.

But isn’t this the same in our social networking world?

First you visit. If you like the person, and what they say, you might hang out and comment or have a coffee with them.

Your new friend comes to visit and has a coffee at your place and then a few more coffee sessions until you jump into the wine, cheese and crackers stage, where you open up a little more, expressing your thoughts. You learn more about your friend’s personality, their thoughts, and what’s important to them.

Finally your dinner invitation. This is when you start e-mailing friends you’ve met online, exchanging phone numbers so you can speak in person, and hear the sound of their voice. If you travel to their town or city, you’ll call and arrange to meet them in person. I’ve done this with some of my online friends. It’s all about adding the human connection to your online friendship, which further strengthens the bond of a true friendship. After all, we are still human and have a desire to see the real person. I believe in making long-term friends.

Just as in the “real” world, some relationships never make it past the visit or the coffee stage. Others, with time, can make it to the dinner and long-term friendship stage. Where are you on this beautiful journey of connecting with people?