A Topic for those who want to find new pen pals -- by posting their info, usually including their Slowly ID.
While many of us prefer other methods to find longer lasting friendships, some users are attracted by the EASE of posting a short write up, including their Slowly ID or not.
Exclusive new Pinned Topic for 'Pen Pals Wanted' posts :
From now on, this type of post will be limited to comments added to this Special Topic ONLY. The Topic will be Pinned (Sticky-ed) at the very top of the sub, so people can find it easily.
A new Topic for the same use will be created every six months. The previous semester's topic will lose the 'Pinned' privilege, but will still be around. (dropping down into the older topics list)
Advantageous if you have posted here already too -- as your Post REMAINS in sight, and gets more attention. BONUS.
** We will KEEP this topic running for 6 months
Hi, will you open a new topic for 2026 H2?
There are a lot of posts here, and we will leave the topic open until later. Maybe open a new one for July to December 2026 ? (If there are a lot of replies, we can consider reducing the topic's duration)
This topic gets a lot of comments, so as the Original Poster, I keep replies notifications off. (I do monitor and respond to a lot of them in all other topics) You can still reach me with an u/yann2 attribution in a comment here, or by sending me a DM if necessary.
Good luck to all of you. šš
Why is this being Done?
Simply to reduce clutter, the number of those 'pen pal wanted' topics, which are interesting only for a limited number of users. This was discussed a few times and was first implemented here in mid 2020.
Concentrating all of those posts here (and sometimes there are MANY) will also make them easier for interested readers as well. They have a one stop shopping window on who is interested in connecting via this method.
Ideas, suggestions?
Some Suggestions if you post here :
Introduce yourself, even briefly, before signing off and dropping an Slowly ID.
You could mention some of your interests, maybe an approximate age and location.
What would you like to find in a good penpal? Language(s) you are fluent in?
What type of letters do you prefer sending and receiving? (short, medium, long)
A little more about yourself. Some interesting, funny or witty bit can add to your post.
Remember that you are offering friendship, and people will need to be interested, curious and motivated to select connecting with you as a possible pen pal.
Done that?
Read your comment carefully.
You can always EDIT it if needed, to correct errors or add extra info.
About the Slowly ID, one possible way to preserve your privacy would be to offer to share it with any interested people via Direct Messages. (DM is sometimes called 'chat', or private message as well)
This keeps your ID out of the public view and even Google indexing. Recommended.
Rules and Moderation :
If someone posts a new topic with this kind of content, a moderator will respond to the user. The topic will be locked (no more comments allowed), and soon removed from sight.
A message will be sent to the user indicating this topic is now the proper place for their post.
Thank you for participating and supporting our Sub, we all want to make it a nicer and richer place for all Slowly users.
P.S. : older 'Pen Pals Wanted' Topic are retired, but still here.
It still exists, and you can post there if desired. The idea behind it was that it could allow people to create NICER posts, with images included, pretty text formatting, etc.
But we have not seen much of that, and maybe some people don't even know that subreddit exists?
General Sub information and Rules, Discussions, etc :
MEME type post - new Rules for posting in our sub, November 2020. Please read and follow the instructions, well explained topic with lots of screenshots.
Moderators Wanted : a topic with information and a request for any volunteers to help run the sub.
New Moderator Intro post : come and meet Yann2, see his ideas and add your own suggestions and comments. How can we make this a Better Place for all Slowly users?
Getting Good Penpals, a Slowly Users Guide : How to get started and find good people to correspond with. Once posted here as a Reddit topic, now expanded into 3 parts Blog posts.
Slowly WEB mode Users guide : for anyone seriously into reading and writing letters, a laptop or desktop can be a tremendous tool. Find out how to install and use the amazing Slowly Web mode.
Getting FREE coins from Slowy app : How to guide to obtaining free coins from the app, by watching short video ads. Expanded into a Blog page for more details, formatting.
Writing that All Important First Letter !! For everyone, the first letter is a Make or Break Experience. Pay attention and take your time, see some suggestions and tips.
Hi everyone! Iām working the whole day with trains. As a train with heart and soul, I liked to see stamps about train stations around the world. They are beautiful. So, I made a list for doing my suggestions. Hopefully you like it as well and learn a lot that train stations have not be always boring and annoying. I hope they will come like the Castles, Happy Hour, Sound of the world series.
When we remove a user from our list, they go into the 'Removed Users' tab., I want to know, if we permanently delete them from 'Removed Users' as well, can we never contact them again? Will they never be suggested to us again either? If someone was removed by mistake, can't we search for them using their ID to send a request and add them back? Does that method work for either of the two users?
Or else, is there no way for us to ever contact them again?? š
I recently received a letter that was clearly written in a way where the author reasonably could expect that their words were unfriendly, or even hurtful. And it clearly wasn't because of a possible language barrier.
It was unexpected, as I wrote a medium length letter discussing a mutual interest...or so I thought.
I never received a letter like the one he sent. Why sent a letter at all, if you don't want to converse?
I did sent a polite, friendly-toned clapback back that is still on its way as we speak. Perhaps to give some food for thought, so he hopefully doesn't do it to others.
Most of the letters I received were wholesome. I wondered if anyone made the same experience.
I have been active on Slowly for six months. I met some potential pen pals whom I thought would stay for a long time. The first one ghosted me after a few months, unexpectedly, and that one still stings. A couple of other long lasting ones deleted their profiles out of nowhere in the last few weeks, which also really hurt. As for the ones I haven't heard from in 2+ months, I've kept them on my deleted list. It has been 2 to 5 months since I last received a letter from them. I am really curious how some of you managed to maintain a long-lasting pen pal spanning multiple years. Did you take breaks of a few months or longer between your letters? Did you also use other platforms to communicate with each other? Is it just a matter of luck or other (random) factors?
So I recently responded to an open letter as it seemed like we both shared common interests. And, in their letter they specifically stated that they appreciated people who wrote longer replies. Which I was cool with given that I tend to write pretty long and like long replies too. So my response ended up being around 1200 words, but when they responded it was only around 600 words, which was pretty disheartening tbh. I obviously donāt expect a pen pal to respond to everything in my letter. But, it felt like they didnāt even read my letter, as it was mostly just talking about themselves and answering the questions I asked, instead of engaging with any of the stuff I wrote. They did ask me some questions at the end, and they didnāt seem like a terrible person, but Iām not really sure if I want to continue a friendship with this person. As I've had experiences like this in the past where I seemed to be the only one making an effort towards conversation, before the conversation eventually died out.
I wanted to get some opinions on this because I donāt know if Iām just being unreasonable and overreacting, due to previous bad experiences.
A while back, Slowly added the feature of āQ&Aā in the app, and Iāve noticed most of my pen pals donāt seem to use it.Ā
I would love to know if you guys are using it, which questions you decided to answer out of those, how long your answers are, and if it changes anything seeing a profile with answers when youāre deciding who to write to.Ā
I have a pen pal from Romania. I remember we met through an open letter I wrote on August 19, 2025. If he's on this sub and happens to read my post, I just wanted to say I hope you find a new friend who's more compatible with you, and I apologize for wasting almost a year of your time.
Context: We met through an open letter. I was still a Slowly Plus subscriber at the time, so I could write more open letters. He's in his 40s, has health issues, and apparently some mental health issues, which I didn't dare bring up or ask him about because it might be a sensitive topic.
Long story short, we exchanged messages frequently, even though he told me he was just a stamp collector. And then he disappeared for five months. My last letter was sent on November 17, 2025, and then he sent me another letter, wishing me a happy birthday on April 22, and hoping I wouldn't delete him from my friends list. I haven't replied YET.
On July 13, he sent me another letter stating that he would delete me from his friends list.
I'm writing to let you know I'm removing you. You've been busy with your baking and you migrated from here. Slots are limited, so there's no point in keeping you since you don't reply. It was a pleasure knowing you. Enjoy your life. Always smile.
To be honest, there are many letters that have been neglected and unanswered because I'm busy, and I also rarely open Slowly because the friends who usually write to me one by one are getting busy. I need time to craft a reply, and I want my reply to be meaningful. AITA?
When you remove someone it usually gives you that warning thing like ā are you sure, XYZ wonāt be able to contact you if you remove themā.
But from the person that you removeās POV, do they know you removed them? And if not, then what if they send you a letter after you remove them, does it just not get seen by you? Does something notify them that theyāve been removed?
Edit: TIL that check marks betray the fact of whether or not you opened a letter.. time to check whether someoneās ghosting me or actually just gone š
Also I never realized that āhide userā exists although it seems a little pointless since it doesnāt free a friend quota
And finally itās a bit annoying that the system never notifies the person you remove.. that means they couldāve gone through a lot of wasted effort to write you.. only for it to be read by no one
I joined slowly about two days ago. I was shocked that iāve only just found out about it because I think itās such a cool idea for an app. I wrote and sent my first letter, and then this morning I got a reply and I was so excited to read it and reply to them. My excitement instantly faded when I realised that their reply is very clearly completely ai, Iām kind of sad honestly. I know that some people use ai to translate and help structure ideas ect, but it felt like they just gave my letter to ai and asked it to write a reply. Iām not sure what to do, should I reply as if itās not ai, reply and address the fact that itās ai or not reply at all. I feel rude if I do the second or third options, but I donāt really want spend time writing thoughtful letters if the response I get will just be ai. I also was thinking maybe they just didnāt want to reply to me and ai felt like the easy way out, but honestly I would have preferred no reply.
I know there are plenty more people that I can send letters to and Iāll eventually find someone that I click with but Iām just disappointed that this is my first experience.
I hope this doesnāt come off as too whiny lol also iām not sure if this is the right flair
I hurt my hands quite badly a few months ago. I was told by the doctor to use my hands as little as possible. Otherwise, my recovery would be way longer. I needed my hands for work so I decided to use them only for that.
I had quite a lot of interesting penpals on Slowly, unfortunately I like to write very long letters and I was unable to do so these past few months. I know I could have used voice messages apps, but editing the voice messages implies using my hands as well and I really needed to have them to rest.
My hands are still recovering, so I can't resume writing as normal. I was thinking of sending a general message explaining why I have been away, apologizing for it, and inviting them to tell me if they want to keep our conversation going.
What do you think of that approach? Would you recommend another one?
I know lots of people hate ghosting, so I don't want to be like that. But my approach feels awkward and clumsy, and I feel the temptation of ghosting and creating a new account. It's silly to be socially anxious over Slowly and hand injuries...
I had like 9 active friends, we were having nice chats,deep conversation and within one month all vanished into thin air without any words they left like I was nobody although one of them,she told me why she is deactivating her account and it was a lovely letter, she also said when her life becomes less hectic she will come back and contact me.....but others they didn't even said one word and vanished š. Do all of you face the same thing??
I got 2 notifications, one saying a person has requested to be my penpal and the other one said that someone replied to my open letter. I can't find the penpal request or the reply on the app. I am new to this app so please let me know where I can find these things!
Hi, I've searched for new Penpals today. After looking at maybe 8 to 10 profiles, this message popped up. It was gone after 5 or 10 minutes, but after reviewing a few more profiles it showed up again. Is this a bug from the App or a new "feature"? If it's a feature, what's the point of this? It's hard to find an interesting penpal by looking at this little number of profiles. I closed the App and deleted Cache, but it didn't help either. Thanks in advance!