We’re still lonely, startups are still trying

Is the answer to getting offline being more online? A bunch of apps seem to think so. 

A smiling man holds out a phone; the screen reads, “Be my friend?”

The booming friendship-app trend is not slowing down as we navigate this post-pandemic digital age, where work is often done remotely and third spaces, like coffee shops and community hubs, have disappeared. 

Friendship apps…

… promise connections with equally lonely people near you:

  • Pie, an app that brings people together around common interests. 
  • Bumble BFF, which accounted for ~15% of Bumble’s monthly active users in 2023.
  • Timeleft for group dinners, The Breakfast for group breakfasts.

Serial entrepreneur Radha Agrawal (Thinx, Daybreaker) founded Belong Circle to “eradicate loneliness,” per The Cut

It involves meetups in various cities — free, with a suggested donation of $20 — far more accessible than Wow It’s Now, the $15k/ticket, invite-only adventure trip for founders and high-net-worth types Belong Circle spun out of. 

Experts say…

… that people who are serious about making friends online should be specific about what they’re looking for and open about who they are, meet IRL, and find ways to maintain the connection. 

That last part is key. You can go to as many app-powered meetups as you like, but if you never see those people again, what’s the point? While that’s largely up to users, apps can help.  

Business Insider’s Amanda Hoover recently tried 222, an app that matched her with five strangers at an NYC hot spot. It later asked for feedback on her matches, and encouraged a second meetup with one of them, “taking the awkwardness of pursuing a new pal out of my hands.”

Timeleft is adding a new feature to help diners plan subsequent outings, after finding that they often did so on their own. 

It’s also possible…

… we don’t need new apps. 

Wired interviewed a 58-year-old goat farmer who joined the Facebook group Surrogate Grandparents USA after becoming estranged from her own children. She now has four “adopted” adult daughters and a mess of grandkids.

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Topics: Technology Apps

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