Now, I think we can all agree on one thing. There is quite literally an app for everything, right?! At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an app that listed all the different apps out there. It’s the norm now. Do you even consider a business legit if they don’t have an app? They’re everywhere! We’ve all (I’m sure) talked about how apps have taken over the dating sector. Whatever you’re into, trust that there is an app for that (and if there isn’t, get on it! You might be onto a million-dollar idea!) but there is another sector that apps are cornering… Friendship. That’s right! Why limit social apps to just helping you find a date? They can also help you find new squad members. A lot of apps that initially started with a dating focus, have branched out to friendship like Bumble BFF and CLiKD. However, like dating apps, not everyone has been sold on the idea initially, so I’m here to tell you 4 reasons why friendship apps may be the way forward…

1. It can be hard to make friends as an adult

Being an adult has its pros and cons (pro: you can buy alcohol and have ice cream for dinner, con: no one can really stop you buying alcohol or having ice cream for dinner.) However, research has shown that as you get older, it can be harder to maintain friendships/make new friends. When you’re young, proximity plays a pivotal role in your friendships. In fact, you rarely realise how big that role is till you’re no longer in the same school, uni or town/city as your friends anymore.

Being an adult also means that life’s milestones can affect your friendships too. Getting married and starting a family can mean that there’s less time to spend with friends. You find that friendship takes a lot more commitment the older you get and both parties need to try or you’ll find the friendship fading away.

It can be surprisingly hard to go up to a stranger and make friends. Let’s be honest, everyone is a little suspicious now of someone wanting to be just friends with no ulterior motive (i.e. connections or being introduced to their single friend etc.) This is where friendship apps come in. With women especially, it can be difficult to make friends when the idea of women being competitors is so often perpetuated in the media. Being on a friendship app, you’ve already taken one step in saying that’s what you’re looking for. It’s a whole sphere with people who feel the same as you. They just want to meet new people and there’s no shame in that. Like most apps, friendship ones act as a tool to make something easier for us, so utilise that!

2. You can find friends based on common interests

As I mentioned before, as you get older, you realise how many of your friendships from earlier years were based merely on proximity. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. You might want to know more people in your neighbourhood because you don’t always want to travel half way across your city/town to meet up with the gang. You might want to bond over your love of your local area and have people there to enjoy all it has to offer with.

However, friendship apps allow you to find friends based on more than just ‘they live 10 mins away’ (although you can filter for that) or ‘they were in my class’. If you look back, I’m sure there are one or two friendships you had in the past that you wonder, ‘what exactly did we have in common aside from proximity?!’ Common interests are important. They keep us connected better than just being physically close. A person can always move, but all their interests are unlikely to completely change overnight, though they may evolve.

With friendship apps (similar to dating apps) you can add a bio. You say what you’re interested in from the get go. If you love shopping, put that. Brunch is your idea of heaven? The bio is the place to mention it. If you love video games or you want a friend to go to comic con with, add that in your bio! It’s a great way to filter out people (in the least shallow way possible!) It’s better to be able to find out if you have common ground, chat first, meet up a few times and see if you really click.

When you were in school, there wasn’t really the option of not being friendly with your classmates because you didn’t mesh well. Once you became friends, unless you had a huge fight, it was expected you would be friends forever or risk teachers claiming you were alienating people. Friendship apps allow you to test the waters and that’s all one can really ask for.

3. You can meet people you may not have been around otherwise

When you only ever surround yourself with the same types of people or people that are similar to you, you’ll never expand your horizons. Being friends with people who have different views, who come from different backgrounds, who work in different sectors or essentially have different life experiences is healthy. Your friends should support you, yes, but all friends should serve a different purpose in helping you grow. They should also challenge you to think, be well informed and become the best you that you can be.

If you’re always going to the same places and always interacting with the same people, you’ll never open yourself up to new experiences. Friendship apps allow you to widen the pool of people you can meet. You’ll find people that are new to your area, people born there, people who work in fields you’ve never heard of, people who think differently, look differently. You name it. The world is a huge place and apps have allowed the world to tangibly become our oyster. If you want to meet people you wouldn’t normally interact with and you feel nervous about it, friendship apps are the way to go.

4. Making friends is easier than dating

We all know that dating can be one of the most impossible tasks ever. Sadly, it’s necessary for our survival, it’s the selection process we have evolved to after all. Even with dating apps to help us out, it’s difficult. Yes, you’ve swiped right, but for what? Something casual like friends with benefits? A one-night stand? To try and build a relationship? Who even knows anymore? From textlationships to situationships to ghosthing, it can all get pretty hectic and stressful. You don’t know which way is up, but one thing you should be able to count on? Friends, duh!

It’s a lot easier to make friends. For one thing, you can meet up with as many potential friends as you want from the app without anyone telling you it’s too much. Also, you already know, you won’t be dodging someone trying to have sex with you based on ‘signs’ they’ve perceived. As a bonus, you can have as many friends as you want, whereas the general idea of dating apps is that eventually, it’ll come down to one (unless all parties have discussed otherwise.)

You don’t have to stress about meeting up with a new potential friend because all they want from you is friendship. With dating, you gotta roll the dice 90% of the time, because it could be anything. Also, more friends is more people to help you figure this dating business. Is that date really into you or just playing games? Multiple heads are always better than one, people! 😉

So, there you have it! 4 reasons why friendship apps may be the way forward. Always remember, “In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips.” No matter what anyone says, you can never have too many chocolate chips in a cookie 🙂

By Jordan Enaboifo

@jordan_enaboifo