Download Tinder - Dating & New Friends and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Welcome to Tinder — you can be here for a good time, and a long time, too. With 30 billion matches to date, Tinder® is the top free dating app, making it the place to meet new people. Only around 12% of the people using Match Mobile are under 29. Why It’s A Great Dating App For Serious Relationships. Since you have to invest in a subscription to contact anyone, the singles you’ll find on Match tend to be more responsive and less likely to flake out date plans. You’re also far less likely to encounter fake profiles.
Whether you’re looking for true love or a quick hookup, dating apps have become the go-to for finding what you’re craving. But what about friends? After using Tinder and OKCupid for dating, I was actually more interested in finding new pals and I figured I could keep using the same tools but with a different purpose.
I’m open to love but not looking for it.
I’m taking a very chill approach to new relationships these days, preferring to let the right connection come to me rather than chasing it. That said, I’ve always found dating apps really interesting and I love dating, so even though I’m not looking for romance, I still enjoy that aspect of it. Why not keep the parts of dating I enjoy and use the same approach to simply find cool people to hang with?
I’m upfront about it.
I state in my profile that I’m looking for friendship so it’s clear to anyone perusing my stats what I’m open to. I also make sure to talk about it explicitly before I meet anyone in person. A dating site isn’t the typical place for people to find platonic connections, so I make sure I’m upfront about it. I have no interest in leading people on.
Friendship is more important to me than partnership.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being in a relationship, but the older I get, the more I realize that a solid network of good friends is much more important. I want to have a community of amazing people around me more than I want to find “The One.” I’ve spent way too much time giving up my friendships for the sake of whichever relationship I was in at the time. Now it’s time to start putting friendship first.
An online connection doesn’t mean a real-life romance.
Even if I meet someone online who I think could be an incredible partner, you never know until you’ve actually met them. I’ve met a few guys who, on paper and from our messages, seemed like real keepers, only to find there was no chemistry in real life. In those situations, I was open to keeping them as friends rather than scrapping all that potential because the spark of romance wasn’t there.
Not everyone has the same idea.
Unfortunately, some people aren’t into it. Some of those dudes just dropped off the face of the earth when they realized I wasn’t interested romantically. I get it, they were looking for something specific and I just wasn’t on board. To me though, it just seems like a shame to shut off the possibility of platonic connection just because I wasn’t DTF.
It’s hit and miss.
Just like searching for real-life romance through a screen doesn’t guarantee a connection, neither does looking for friends. I love dating because it’s an opportunity to meet an entirely new human being and friendship dating is no different. That said, some people just do not fit together and there’s a lot of time spent awkwardly sipping coffee over a forced conversation, calculating how many minutes until I can politely exit the interaction.
I’ve had some weird dates come out of it.
Even if I say on my profile that I’m looking for friends, and even if that’s explicitly stated before we meet, there are still some people who equate dating apps with, well, dating. On the one hand, that’s totally fair enough. On the other hand, we’re all adults here and we (hopefully) all understand the concept of consent. When one of us is looking for friendship and the other is only interested in hooking up, nobody wins.
If we can use apps for romance, why not for friendship?
We’re living in a world that is steadily becoming more and more digitized and if we can use technology to find our soulmates, why can’t we do the same to find friends? There’s an app for that, right? The social stigma around online dating has pretty much disappeared, but when I tell people I find friends online, I still get some funny looks.
The tech world is catching on.
For a hot minute, Tinder launched a version of the app created for exactly this purpose. Unfortunately, the idea tanked, probably because as a hook-up app, it’s not particularly geared towards meaningful connections. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of other apps that are designed for exactly that market if, like me, you’re not opposed to finding cool people through the power of the internet.
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We all know that adulting can be hard at times, and finding a new social group to belong to doesn’t necessarily get easier with age. The desire to make new friends could come from moving to a new city, graduating, working at a new job, or even outgrowing the ones you’ve had since you were a child.
If you feel like it’s time to find some new besties to tell it all to, the good news is that you’re not the only one. Along with the popularity of social media and dating apps, comes friend-seeking apps, designed to bring common people together in hopes of creating a new and fulfilling friendship. Here are a few apps to help you get started finding your new BFF:
Meetup
Meetup organizes online groups that host in-person events for people with similar interests. This app can be great for people who feel more comfortable meeting in group settings. Another point to consider is this app may be better suited more for extroverted people since each outing will always be in groups. Similar to confirming an RSVP for an event, Meetup lets you respond Yes, No, or Maybe to an event.
Bumble BFF
Usually known for it’s dating app, the company Bumble has Bumble BFF and it’s becoming popular for connecting like-minded people nearby. This app also has recommendations for your first friend date. When you do find a potential friend match on the app, you have to start a conversation within 24 hours to keep the connection active. Another cool thing is once you download Bumble, you have the option to remove Bumble Date from your app altogether.
Friender
Who can turn down an app with the word friend in it? Friender is a mobile app that connects people with similar interests. When you build your profile, suggested matches will have at least one favorite activity in common with you, which could help in starting a conversation.
The League
Similar to EliteSingles, where working professionals connect with singles, The League is a site that’ll connect you with ambitious and go-getter potential friends, exclusive events, and inspiring groups. In order to get into The League, you must pass a screening process as it’s vetted to accept people with competitive credentials.
Words With Friends Dating Site
Patook
This app is known for strictly making platonic friends. With its main goal being to connect compatible people together, Patook members can use a point system that will allow them to give out points for traits they like and see the points be shown next to their name on the app.
Nextdoor
Nextdoor keeps you up to speed with everything happening close by. Only members who live within your neighborhood can join your neighborhood group unless you used a shared link invitation to friends who live outside of your area. This social networking is great for people who want to get to know their community better.
Hey! VINA
Self-described as the “Tinder for (girl) friends,” Hey! VINA was designed for women to meet female friends at any time. What’s cool about this app is that it encourages you to share more about yourself, including your activities, interests, and what you are going through in your life that could help you meet friends that are going through similar events.
REALU
This app was specifically designed to help you connect with people in real-time. Connecting with new people in real-time allows you the opportunity to connect with people everywhere, such as in a coffee shop, in the library or event at a mall. The creators of this app wanted to solve the problem of people being glued to their phones when they’re in an unfamiliar place by themselves.
Finding a new relationship can feel like starting over, and finding new friends can feel like the same process. Don’t get discouraged if the chemistry isn’t there with certain people. Any kind of relationship takes time to grow. These apps can connect you with online groups and nearby people who are looking for a future friend just like you!
Dating App For Friends Only Chat
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