I am not so certain that there is a "one size fits all" forumula for "making friends" here on SCN or in any environment for that matter, but I do know that to create any kind of relationship one must be ready to reach out and communicate directly. I've spent a good deal of my "time" here commenting publicly and often when I felt really inspired to do so, creating a more "private" communication because I genuinely wanted to learn more about someone, or acknowledge their valuable contribution, or just thank them for a service provided to the community at large and to me by extension.
I've also made the effort to have face to face interactions with people from this community. That takes the online interaction to another level, although there are people here who I highly admire and respect that I have never met in person and might indeed never meet that interact with me in a very "friendly" way, with potential for real connection, even if that real connection remains communication in a virtual environment.
Some people think of friends as those people who are akin to close family. How many of those do each of us have? A very personal question I would think. And in wondering about "making" friends, I'd also ask myself: "am I a friend"?. Would I take the extra time to help someone? Would I acknowledge someone for help given? Who are the people whose council I seek? Whose advice would I look to follow? And interestingly, the piont system doesn't come into the conversation at all when I think about that kind of "reputation". But the principles of real "friendship" do My friends in my life (which includes my professional friends) are people who I respect professionally but they are also people who accept me and I them with flaws and foibles as well as talents and skills.
And special events and meetups are great ways of creating bonds and connections. I have the privledge of doing that through the SAP TechEds and other SAP events, but quite honestly, before I was in a position to attend those, I looked for (and even helped create) local activities that enabled me to interact with like minded professionals.
Some people say: "the best way to make friends is to be one".
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