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Anyone had experience with Element and making friends on there?
things have happened recently and I think I might need to make a friend that is more available.
I have friends and some are close but they are not as plugged in as I am so sometimes when I am in need of some comfort, I feel lonely and after some searching and googling, it seems that element is best for me given my distaste of anything app-based and my desire to upload as little information about myself to a public place.
but I have never really had experience with element and am not sure the best way to find a room of people who are friendly, speak english, and has a vibe I find appealing?
You say you want a friend who is more available. The first thing I'd ask is: Available for what? "Friend" covers a huge number of different expected emotional, social, and physical expectations, and different contexts and locations will make certain needs more or less easy to fulfill. Is what you need from a friend something that talking with someone on Element will actually provide?
You say that you're lonely and need comfort. I'm not going to say that it's impossible to make good friends online, but I would ask if companionship and comfort is something that will be fulfilled through an online platform. I like many people I've interacted with online, and have gotten good advice from several of them. But the only people I met online who have have shared companionship and comfort with me have been people with whom the relationship moved offline and into spending notable amounts of real life time together.
Broadly, I suggest that your premise regarding where you'll find what you say you need should be examined carefully. When thinking about how to meet a need, people are prone to getting attached to a strategy for meeting that need (no matter how poorly the strategy works) rather than attached to meeting the need itself. Will talking with people online provide comfort and companionship? Perhaps, but don't get too attached to it as the major strategy. Since you have friends close by, connecting with them or expanding your in-person group of people will, in my experience, do more to ensure that your emotional needs will be met than any amount of talking with people online.
I think you are making me confront the fact that maybe my search is perhaps pointless.
most of my friends don't live near me and while I would consider 2-3 close, and they have said they consider me close, a blocker has always been the geographical barrier which means that we can't regularly hang out and my friends are not like me in the sense that when I get a message, I respond pretty quickly.
one of my friends decided recently that she doesnt want the obligation of always being available to anyone.
and the other night, I was having a mental health episode and it made me realize that while I can't claim I don't have friends, I can't always rely on them to be available on a random night and I wish I had a friend like that.
pair that with the fact that I prefer to spend most of my time at home, just cause my life is busy with chores or things to do at the computer or other obligations, finding the time to going out and making a local friend is not really something I can do.
I don't want you to feel like the search for companionship is pointless. My point was that if you have a clear idea of what you need you can go about that search in ways that are more likely to fulfill that need. But general company from a friend and immediate assistance for someone who's having a mental health episode are not the same thing, and you can't assume that the same people will be able to provide both.
I'm not going to say it's an absolute impossibility, but friends who have the emotional reserves and free time to be available on any random night to help a friend through a mental health episode are rarer than hen's teeth. I don't want to say they don't exist, but if that's what you're looking for, you may have better chances separating out the need for immediate assistance when you're having a mental health episode from your need for friendship and seeking a mental health provider who can assist in those circumstances. Especially given that you need this now, a therapist, help line, or some other venue is more likely to be able to help you when you need help. It sounds like one of your current friends made clear that she wasn't available for that purpose, and no friend you might hypothetically make in the next week who has healthy emotional boundaries will be able to provide that to a near-stranger.
I don't know where you are in the world, so can't point you to particular resources, but many places have a help line for people in crisis. I strongly suggest you find one who can help you and call when you need it. You have friends, which is a wonderful starting place. But life will be easier if you ask for help from the people best equipped to help.