Making friends of the same gender. foolproof tips?

I'm naturally shy.
All my life I've had girls approach me and befriend me so I never really had to reach out to a girl and start a friendship from scratch. They always came to me.
Last year, I met this older girl online on a message board that I frequent (not dxp) and I've always thought she was really cool and I've been hoping for an opportunity to become good friends with her. Her posts are always so enlightening and encouraging and she just comes across to me as a really nice person.

We've had friendly, brief conversations numerous times on the boards but due to my shyness, I haven't really been able to push forward and get to the next level with her (which is the friend zone). She would kindly help me with my inquiries and I would thank her for her awesome insights and......that would be it. 😢
I want to start chatting with her through private messaging so that I can get to know her more on a personal level but I'm worried that she might think I'm a weirdo lol. I don't want to be a nuisance to her but I REALLY want to become friends with her.

Until recently, I didn't even know that I lacked in social skills because I have a decent number of girl friends that I'm close to but now that I think about it, these girls came to me and befriended me and not the other way around. So I'm not really good at the whole 'breaking the ice' thing.....

Are there such things as 'foolproof tips on how to become friends with the same gender'— I know this is an odd question.
I don't mind if you are a girl or a guy. I would appreciate any helpful tips.

Thanks in advance!

By the way this older girl is a Taurus (if that helps) and I'm a Cancer.

ooo i know how you feel. approaching girls you don't know can be kinda intimidating. i had to befriend this girl for a school project once (we were partners) and i was really nervous at first but she turned out to be so down to earth.
just send her a PM. i doubt she'll be annoyed by it since she seems like a pretty nice person from your description.

one more thing. not many things in life are fool-proof but sometimes you have to take a chance and see for yourself lol

Posted by MelanieG
one more thing. not many things in life are fool-proof but sometimes you have to take a chance and see for yourself lol

yeah - just send a message and ask if she wants to grab a coffee or something. don't know til you ask.

hey, i feel you. i was approached by most of my current guy friends (except for the recent two which I did most of the approaching). I got no trouble when it comes to maintaining a friendship and keeping it alive and fresh but when it comes to starting one from scratch, i'm kinda clueless so i just do the first thing that comes to mind which is always the same lol

usually when i spot a dude that i wanna be friends with, i'll just casually go up to him and start talkin lol

if i'm even approaching him in the first place, it's usually because i already know he's friendly so i'm not worried about his reaction that much lol

i think the fastest way to disarm somebody you don't know is to be real friendly lol
see how they respond and go from there. 🙂

I agree with most posts here. I feel for you because I use to be the same way. The only way to get over the shyness is to just put yourself out there. What's the worst that could happen? Nothing you cant overcome. Just be yourself. If you wanna be friends then tell her. She actually might respond well and then you look back and think "that wasn't so bad". Hope this helps some 🙂

i agree with super size zero.
i've seen you around the forum and you seem really likable and pleasant. i don't think you're lacking in social skills at all. i'm the opposite of you. i don't have any problem talking to girls but i can get kinda nervous and uptight around guys i don't know. i'm always suspicious of them for some reason.

oops. size zero superhero, not super size zero lol sorry haha

Be yourself!

Also, just start chatting people up, and see where it goes. Say something funny or do something funny. Good luck 🙂

Posted by bkbella86
Also, just start chatting people up, and see where it goes. Say something funny or do something funny. Good luck 🙂

Don't be afraid of rejection, matter fact don't even think about it, whats the worst that can happen? You like youself, and im sure someone will like you too.

Hey guys. I apologize for my late reply. I was busy attending numerous x-mas family gatherings lol
Thank you all so much for the encouragement. I know what I need to do now.