Hi, nice to meet you
February 2, 2016 12:05 AM Subscribe
Are there any really good social networking apps for making new friends?
Facebook is (in some people's opinion) good for communicating with existing friends, but is it good for making new friends?
Meetup is good for going out and doing things, but not for having online friends. LinkedIn is good for making new business contacts, and of course there are dozens of dating apps, as well as forums that are geared toward specific interests, but what general social networking app is geared toward making new friends who have similar interests?
I did a Google search and came across MeetMe and Tagged, but both seem very dating-oriented.
I did read previous related posts here and here.
Facebook is (in some people's opinion) good for communicating with existing friends, but is it good for making new friends?
Meetup is good for going out and doing things, but not for having online friends. LinkedIn is good for making new business contacts, and of course there are dozens of dating apps, as well as forums that are geared toward specific interests, but what general social networking app is geared toward making new friends who have similar interests?
I did a Google search and came across MeetMe and Tagged, but both seem very dating-oriented.
I did read previous related posts here and here.
I don't really get twitter, but I know several people who have a ton of friends who respond "oh, through twitter" when I ask how they met.
irl.metafilter.com has been pretty good for me personally.
posted by phunniemee at 4:46 AM on February 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
irl.metafilter.com has been pretty good for me personally.
posted by phunniemee at 4:46 AM on February 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ive made friends through meetup & irl.metafilter that then connected through facebook for online social networking.
Ive heard of people making friends through instagram, but im not sure how that works.
posted by TheAdamist at 5:59 AM on February 2, 2016
Ive heard of people making friends through instagram, but im not sure how that works.
posted by TheAdamist at 5:59 AM on February 2, 2016
If you have a specific hobby or passion, facebook can be very useful. Follow others with your same interest and do join groups. Whenever events are posted, show up, and leave comments on the the event page. After awhile, you become a familiar face and the people of your future tribe will find you. It takes around 6 months to a year to build a tribe, so don't worry if things don't happen right away.
posted by myselfasme at 6:10 AM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by myselfasme at 6:10 AM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've made a few friends on Facebook. They were already friends of someone I knew. I liked a comment (or several comments) they made on our mutual friend's posts so I "friended" them. One of them is a woman close to my (semi-advanced) age who lives in the same city as I do and we get together occasionally to do stuff.
posted by mareli at 6:40 AM on February 2, 2016
posted by mareli at 6:40 AM on February 2, 2016
Another vote for Twitter, though it helps to have existing friends who already use it in a fairly social way, and not just as a news aggregator or a place to reblog content from famous internet people.
Follow friends who are using it mostly in a chatty sort of way. Via them, start to notice friends-of-friends who say cool or clever or funny stuff. Follow those friends-of-friends. Repeat.
Most people I know find it very odd to get a friend request on Facebook from someone they don't know in real life. But following an unlocked Twitter belonging to a stranger or a friend-of-a-friend is a pretty normal thing to do. (People who wouldn't want strangers following them either stay off Twitter or keep their account locked.) So it's a good way to meet people who are open to meeting people.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:56 AM on February 2, 2016
Follow friends who are using it mostly in a chatty sort of way. Via them, start to notice friends-of-friends who say cool or clever or funny stuff. Follow those friends-of-friends. Repeat.
Most people I know find it very odd to get a friend request on Facebook from someone they don't know in real life. But following an unlocked Twitter belonging to a stranger or a friend-of-a-friend is a pretty normal thing to do. (People who wouldn't want strangers following them either stay off Twitter or keep their account locked.) So it's a good way to meet people who are open to meeting people.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:56 AM on February 2, 2016
I'm not sure where you live but I just stumbled on this site today:
http://www.teawithstrangers.com/
Here's where they are currently established:
http://www.teawithstrangers.com/cities
Seems very non-datey though not necessarily geared toward friendship, though I imagine that happens sometimes.
posted by funkiwan at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
http://www.teawithstrangers.com/
Here's where they are currently established:
http://www.teawithstrangers.com/cities
Seems very non-datey though not necessarily geared toward friendship, though I imagine that happens sometimes.
posted by funkiwan at 3:02 PM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure how helpful it is, but I made a good friend on OK Cupid after I somehow screwed up the search settings and it started showing me straight women. I was like, "TOTALLY NOT HITTING ON YOU but omg i also like Shakespeare and Pacific Rim! Have you read this fic that combines those two things?"
We recently went out to dinner and toasted about how it was the best thing to come out of either of our OK Cupid adventures. So, I suppose you could try to do that intentionally.
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:33 PM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
We recently went out to dinner and toasted about how it was the best thing to come out of either of our OK Cupid adventures. So, I suppose you could try to do that intentionally.
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:33 PM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Facebook is (in some people's opinion) good for communicating with existing friends, but is it good for making new friends?
Yes.
posted by John Cohen at 9:55 AM on February 3, 2016
Yes.
posted by John Cohen at 9:55 AM on February 3, 2016
I like niche forums. There's a few huge places where I just follow topics and interact with some of the same posters in different threads. I kinda miss LJ since it had the best way of interacting within open and closed communities vs Tumblr.
MMOs/Games are popular but then again a person has to be into a certain mindset to join them in the first place. Also most of the time I stay with the same small group and I move to different games with them over time.
FB is alright. I did join a few hobbyist groups but still iffy about posting with my irl name even there. Also lack of useful ability to follow posts other than liking meant I missed interesting convos.
Penpals is still fun if you don't mind potential privacy concerns. I know some people would rent PO and exchange letters too.
posted by chrono_rabbit at 11:52 PM on February 3, 2016
MMOs/Games are popular but then again a person has to be into a certain mindset to join them in the first place. Also most of the time I stay with the same small group and I move to different games with them over time.
FB is alright. I did join a few hobbyist groups but still iffy about posting with my irl name even there. Also lack of useful ability to follow posts other than liking meant I missed interesting convos.
Penpals is still fun if you don't mind potential privacy concerns. I know some people would rent PO and exchange letters too.
posted by chrono_rabbit at 11:52 PM on February 3, 2016
« Older What sort of genius do I need to hire, and where... | Current best practice for a speedy streamlined web... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Phssthpok at 12:53 AM on February 2, 2016