Will You Be My Friend?

Social media has become so intertwined with modern life that saying 'I'll find you on Facebook' is now more common than 'let's set a date to meet.' However, the problem with platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn is that they have turned into our 'phone books.' We find and follow friends, acquaintances, and family there. At best, we might encounter new people through them, perhaps discovering shared interests through their photos. For instance, they might also enjoy backpacking or boating, or we might enjoy their opinions on news and politics and wish to have an extensive chat about the upcoming presidential elections. But we need to be quite lucky for them to live near us so we can plan a trip or chat in a café together. Now, imagine you've just moved to a new city or even want to have a new experience in your old city: play volleyball, find a playmate for your child, or seek a group with shared interests: to discuss high food taxes, go hiking on holidays, cook together, and engage in countless other activities that are more enjoyable in a group. MeetUp is one of the oldest websites that helps find people with shared interests and tastes. Sports, politics, food, animal rights, education, art, and more are just a few examples of the hundreds of topics on which you can find like-minded individuals in your area. MeetUp is one of the oldest social sites, initially created by supporters of Howard Dean's 2004 Democratic presidential campaign to keep track of meeting locations and discussions. However, Scott Heiferman, the designer and creator of the site, decided to expand it—initially in New York City. The site now has over twenty million users and nearly two hundred thousand groups in more than one hundred eighty countries worldwide. But what if we are the kind of people who are terrified of facing a group—even one with shared interests? Or if we do not want to commit to regularly meeting a group of people at first? This is where People Hunt comes in. You might be interested in learning Spanish, in which case you would ask People Hunt to introduce you to someone who speaks Spanish well! Or you might not cook yourself but want to befriend someone who loves teaching others how to cook! Before we move on to the next service, we need to know about FourSquare. Launched in 2009 in New York City, FourSquare tells you what attractions, recreational facilities, arts, sports, restaurants, and more are around you. You can—like on Facebook—tell other members where you are, what food you are eating, which museum you are visiting, and more. Agora utilizes this feature of FourSquare (and, of course, Twitter) to introduce you to other people in the same area. Imagine you have gone for a walk to one of the hills outside the city. Agora introduces you to other people who have come to that area for a walk. Maybe next week, you'll walk together! The ONE website/app and the Hicup website/app do almost the same thing. You specify your geographical area and tell it what activities you are interested in. Next, you are introduced to other people in the same area who are interested in the same activities. But all of these are interest-based friend-finding services. What if we want to befriend someone just like that, without any background? We might think, well, we’ll just go say hello! But the reality is that we won’t do that. If someone approaches us on the street and says, 'Let’s have tea together,' we will likely think they intend to disturb us! But what if our computer or phone does the same thing? The Scout service is meant to do just that! You tell this app where you are! The app randomly introduces you to another person in that area (who is also using this service). Obviously, you must give this service permission!