Welcome to Penpal.net!

I am very excited to announce that the new Penpal.net website has launched! Some of the cool new features include:

• Instant messenger
• Blogs
• Chat rooms
• Photo galleries
• Video galleries
• Message boards

If you have an account on PenpalNet.com you will have to create a new account here.

Since I first started Penpal.net in 1996 many of our members have e-mailed to tell me the story about how they met their penpals. Many of these stories have one thing in common: how surprised they were to find such a good friend online. Many of these friendships transcend continents and languages but with consistent writing they can last your entire life.

Just as some friends stick around longer than others, the same happens with penpals. Over time it may be difficult to continue writing to an online penpal, but with a few small suggestions you may be able to turn that around. Here are some tips for keeping a penpal friendship going through the years:

Write regularly
This doesn’t mean you have to write every day, but writing once a month or once a week will definitely keep the conversation going.

Don’t write to too many people
If you don’t have time to write a weekly e-mail to all your penpals, then try writing less frequently or to fewer penpals. It is fun to meet people from many different countries, but there is nothing wrong with only writing to a few people. When you are first starting out you will still have to write to a number of people before finding the right friend.

Write about interesting things
Not every e-mail has to be a long correspondence with every detail of your life, but avoiding the two-sentence e-mail and writing a little bit more will keep the conversation active and the friendship growing.

Finding penpals is a lot of fun and great way to build more friendships. If you stick to the tips above, you may just have a penpal friend for life!

Today I would like to wish our American visitors a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you can enjoy the holiday in a warm environment wtih turkey, stuffing, and lots of family to keep you company. Happy Turkey Day!

When I started this site 13 years ago I never dreamed it would eventually reach out to over a million people all over the world, building countless friendships and stories. It has been a wild ride and this little website has not only survived, it has thrived.

While the success has been sweet, I always wished I could add more functionality. Sometimes the best way to improve a website is to start over from scratch: new logo, new website, and new technology.

Over the next few days I will be rolling out a whole bunch of new features that I have been developing for the past three years. I am very excited to bring people together in an entirely new way, so check back soon to see all the new toys.