I'm easy.

Friends are nice and good ones are few and far between be they men or women.

But I believe you can have good friends online as well as in the twilight zone of real life

Not assuming is a very good approach when it comes to online interactions . Too much can be misinterpreted. It's nice that you appreciate friendships Johnn:)

Not sure if I quite understood you mill bank.

Are you saying that online friendships are more acquaintances than friendships and that real friendships take more time to develop?

This is true

But it is also true that we also kid ourselves into feeling somethimes that the people we fall in love with , are the people that are suitable enough to build a life with.

Just because you fall in love with someone , it doesn't mean that you are compatible enough in goals, values or lifestyle to make a longterm relationship work , if that is what the person is in search of.

I guess no thanks

well it all depends on a person's reasons for being here BHawkins.

Some people did not join the site for a relationship.

Some came here for flings , even when they try to hide it under the disguise of wanting a relationship or a friend.

I would like to think that the ones who genuinely came here for a relationship seek out the type of woman you described.

Awww man!!!

I can't believe that some juicy stuff on my thread got edited out before I got to read it.

No fair Soufie!

So you are just open to whatever life brings Doug.

I am recording your response as a "thanks"

Agreed Joe ..

Please pass this startling revelation on to ciretom

thank you Arpitmeshram .

Your vote will be counted

I'm pretty sure you already know how I'm going to answer Peggy, and the sad thing is that this scenario has played out many times in my life. When I was younger I would have equated the feeling I got when a girl told me she had no interest in being more then friends to getting kicked in the teeth, literally. Currently I have almost three times more female friends then male and I no longer expect any women I meet to want to be more then friends, if that.

Hey sometimes they edit it out before we get to read it :-(

A bit of a vague question, Peggy...
You say "Online". What do you mean with "Online"?
Do you mean in general, like social media, fora etc.
Or do you mean Mingle?
Or a dating site (not Mingle, a dating site without a forum)?

If it's in general, there's nothing odd about a woman wanting friendship only.
On Mingle also not odd if both are active on the forums and like each other that way only.
On a dating site, however... Why would a woman on a dating site contact a man for friendship only?
One would assume she's there to find herself a partner, as are the male counterparts.

A real (even cyber) friendship happens naturally, so i have no problem with that. It's still a chemistry even if it's platonic. If the understanding and humour is there, why wouldn't we want to stay in touch ? As Joe said, good friends are few and far between. I'm lucky enough to have made a few friends from here and other sites, so i consider myself lucky even though i came here looking for a relationship...

To be honest Dnhblue, I think you handle the friend zone status with a degree if grace even if it is out of resignation.

I dont think many men handle the friend zone very well .

Many are as resentful as one of the respondents in this thread possibly because they have been used by such women or possibly a case of the proverbisl sour grapes .

Aaaawwww... That sucks for all of us then.

I am referring to mingle crystal , where the majority of people sign up for dating but a few do come for friendship as well.

And I am mostly referring to people outside of the forum but it can apply to people inside the forum as well who.have not had any interaction with each other in the forum.

Also crystal...

How do you feel about a man who accepts your invitation for a clearly defined platonic friendship , but who accepts your friendship with the intent of luring you into a relationship ?

Interestingly enough, I suspect that many men who say yes to being in the friend zone often do have intentions of challenging those boundaries.

To be fair to those men, i do think a few women are flattered by such advances while others find it downright disrespectful.

Hmmm ... depends. Thing is, I don't really believe in friendship between man & woman without any sexual tension whatsoever. Ppl say it happens, but I am not convinced. I think it is a rare thing to not have any sexual tension.
But that's me, maybe I'm too old-fashioned myself, or too sexually oriented. If there's no sexual vibe between me and a man, I'm usually not interested in him either. Not even for friendship.

Anyway, if my intentions were purely friendship, friendly, and a man kept trying to get more out of me, I would get seriously irritated. And yes, it would be disrespectful if I'd made myself clear several times, and he'd just ignore that.
I'd probably end the friendship, cos it would be awkward for both, and hurtful for him. How can he ever get a partner if he's smitten with me? Then he best is 'cut loose' so he can get over it.

I do think many men find those boundaries challenging, that's a typical male thing, part of the "hunt and conquer" thing so to speak. Boundaries will trigger that. But I don't think they are after a relationship, they just want to claim their "prize", proof of their masculine prowess.

To add to that: I don't think a mentally/emotionally healthy man would chase after a woman who wouldn't want him. But the friendship-zone may turn those old-fashioned black & white areas into 50 Shades of Grey...
Which leads us back to your original question ...