Thanks to Apple, our entire lives are run by apps. Those little square boxes on our devices help us wake up, meditate, connect with peers, order food, catch a ride, and even facilitate our search for love (though not always successfully). So it’s only natural that we also turn to apps to make friends.
Why Use Apps to Make Friends?
One of the biggest pain points with adult socialization is figuring out where to make new friends. Life as a young adult was full of endless opportunities to bond with others: recess, sports teams, classes, clubs, volunteer groups. Life was structured in such a way that we were constantly acquainted with potential pals.
After college, it takes a lot more work to re-create these environments. Frankly, you might not even want to – especially if you’re the introverted type who hates forced bonding. We’re over here having flashbacks to all those human knot icebreakers. *shudder*
Unless you’re lucky enough to find post-grad besties in your coworkers or neighbors, downloading some apps to make friends might be a great option for you. They’re a bottomless buffet of friends that you can connect with based on common interests, hobbies or even compatible horoscope signs. Sign us up!
7 Apps to Make Friends in Post-Grad
1. Bumble BFF
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first – Bumble BFF, the Queen Bee of friendship-centric apps (pun intended). Bumble BFF is a derivative of the Bumble dating app focused entirely on fostering platonic friendships with others in your area.
The best part about Bumble BFF is that everyone on the app is looking for friends, so it helps ease the anxiety you may feel about approaching the cool girl at the park who looks like she probably is at capacity, friendship-wise.
To join, simply download the Bumble app and select that you’re looking for friends. From there, you can build a profile and start swiping through potential friends.
Fair warning: this is the same app you’d use for dating, so be sure to notify your partner of your intentions, if applicable. No need to create some unnecessary trust issues…
2. Meetup
If you’re the kind of gal with an extensive range of hobbies and interests, Meetup might be your cup of tea. Or pint of beer. Wanna be friends?
The app is driven by interests. All you have to do is search for a topic you care about, input your city, and voila! All relevant events and groups will pop up for your perusal.
You can search by keywords such as “crafting,” “hiking,” “LGBTQ+,” or even just “friends” to find dozens of groups that match exactly what you’re looking for. We did a quick search in Cambridge, Massachusetts using the keyword “friends,” and the selection is pretty incredible.
The best part about Meetup is that you already know in advance that you will have overlapping interests with the people you’re about to meet. We love an easy conversation starter!
3. Hey! VINA
If you’re looking to make female friends specifically, this app is for you. Hey! VINA positions itself as a networking app for women, and oh, does it deliver.
Between its aesthetic interface and safety features (like matching your selected profile picture to a forced selfie…sorry, catfishers!), this is the perfect app for building safe, female relationships.
When building your profile, you’ll be asked which communities you belong to. These range from “Bloggers” to “Dog Owners” to “Fashionistas.” There’s also a series of questions regarding meetup preferences, the types of activities you enjoy, and the good ol’ introvert vs. extrovert question.
Then, you swipe through potential connections. On each profile, you’ll see things like personality traits, communities this person belongs to (such as “new in town” or “single ladies”), guilty pleasures, favorite personality traits…even their aura. All this information allows for super curated matches before saying as much as “hello.”
If you’re in the mood to gather a group together rather than chit-chat on the app, there’s a section on the platform where you can make plans. Simply select the activity of interest, set a date and time, and invite whoever you want to – which could be everyone!
4. Yubo
The Yubo interface is a Gen Z dream. Between the fun colors and youthful lexicon, the app is way more fun than what Facebook has to offer (unless Farmville is still your jam).
The app focused on building social connections rather than accumulating followers or scrolling through ads. With features like live-stream and video chat, there are several ways to connect with others.
When you create your Yubo account, you are prompted to select at least five hobbies and interests, ranging from pasta to Louis Vuitton to American Horror Story. These interests appear on your profile, as well as others. Like Hey! VINA, the app includes a safety feature that matches a forced selfie to your selected profile photo.
Yubo includes a variety of different ways to connect with others. There’s the traditional “swipe” section where you can browse through potential friend matches, but you can also join live chats if you’re more in the mood for a group conversation.
The main benefit of this app is the ability to find potential friends based on common interests. Under the “Friends” section, you can automatically add friends with interests like sushi or Shrek, making it oh so easy to plan that Taylor Swift-themed Jenga night you’ve been dying to host. Or, uh, Shrek-themed?
5. Bloom Community
Bloom is a community-based app, and if we had to guess, its favorite word is consent. Which, btw, should be everyone’s favorite word.
Before you’re even able to set up a profile, the app gives you a notice about the rules of the app – centered around consent, communication and respect.
Upon downloading, you can select your gender identity, customize your interest and connection preferences – which could range from looking for friends to a relationship to a kink partner (or all of the above).
Once your profile is set up, there’s two main ways to connect: (1) through swiping for matches or (2) through events. While swiping, you’ll see how potential matches describe themselves, what they enjoy, and what they’re looking for on the app. On the “Events” tab, you can browse through local gatherings you might want to attend.
6. Facebook
We know Facebook feels a bit…shall we say dated? But despite the cringey reminders of what you posted as your status ten years ago on this day, Facebook has some great features.
In addition to reminding you it’s your friend’s birthday (and your high school chemistry lab partner’s birthday), Facebook’s hallmark is the “Groups” feature, which no other platform has successfully replicated just yet.
You can join Facebook groups in your area – which range from those created by content creators to hobby-centric groups for baking enthusiasts or photography lovers. Tap into them to form find a buddy to ride bikes with or someone to grab drinks with after work.
7. Geneva
Technically, Geneva’s brand mission is not to facilitate new friendships. At its core, it’s an organized group chat platform. However, there are plenty of people using Geneva to make new friends. Jump on the bandwagon!
Content creators like Kenzie Elizabeth have used Geneva to create group chats in different cities for followers (click here for her group). And these chats are prime for making new friends! It makes sense after all – if you like the same content creator or podcast, chances are you might get along IRL.
Plenty of users are creating group chats for their city to facilitate meetups and share information. Some examples include…
…and if you can’t find a group for your city, make your own with this step-by-step guide here.
2 replies on “Social Life Feeling Stale? Try These Apps to Make New Friends”
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