How to Meet People Online for Free

Getting started
1. Set up an email account if you don't already have one. Free accounts are available through Yahoo, Google's Gmail, and MSN's Hotmail, among others.
2. Smile for the birdie: Have a digital picture of yourself saved on your computer. Once you get to know people, you may want to share your picture with them.
3. Install an instant messenger program. Yahoo and MSN are both good instant messenger services and they are free.
Meet people
4. Search for on-line groups that interest you. Use a search engine, such as Google, or search groups at Yahoo and MSN. Do you have an interest or a hobby? Find a group that focuses on that interest. If you join groups that discuss things that interest you, you will meet like-minded people. There are groups for pretty much any interest or hobby that you can think of.
5. Consider being in a forum. Forums can serve the same purpose as groups but are often more specialized.
6. Find an email pen-pal. If you'd rather talk to someone one on one rather than in a group, try looking for an email pen pal. Again using a search engine such as Google, search for on-line pen-pal groups. Yahoo has some pen-pal groups as well. Use terms such as 'email pals', 'pen pals' and 'epals' to search for these groups. In a pen-pal group, you can either post an ad telling about yourself and what you are looking for, and ask people to contact you, or you can browse through ads that other people have posted and respond to those that interest you.
7. Network: This is another good way to meet people with similar interests. Sites such as MySpace and Facebook allow you to add friends and interact with others online.