A new site that works like a dating site but is strictly for friendships is growing in popularity among adults, though students are wary of its relevance to them.
FriendMatch is a new online service dedicated to helping people meet others and build friendships. The site was recently launched in March 2012 with 150 members, but has grown to just under 8,000 members through word of mouth.
According to an article in The New York Times, it is more difficult for adults out of college to make friends.
“In your 30s and 40s, plenty of new people enter your life, through work, children’s play dates and, of course, Facebook,” Alex Williams said in his article, “Friends of a Certain Age.” “But actual close friends – the kind you make in college, the kind you call in a crisis – those are in shorter supply.”
Katie Hartle, creator of FriendMatch, saw this same concern in the lives of the people around her.
“I had a friend who moved because of her husband’s work, and he made friends quickly at his new job, but it was much harder for her,” she said. “I could see it with my mom when she got divorced, and anytime there is a major life change in a person’s life.”
The more Hartle examined friendships among adults, the more she could see it everywhere.
“Lots of adults are working and do not have time to make friends,” she said. “The more I looked at this problem, it became, ‘Why hasn’t this been invented yet?’ Especially when we look at how popular online dating is. One in five couples meet online now. There are numerous websites to help you find any kind of romantic companion, and people are very comfortable meeting new people from the Internet. I think it is time to take it to the next step.”
With more and more romantic relationships forming online, it seemed natural to Hartle that friendships should be able to be formed with the help of the Internet.
“The world is changing, and this is one of those signs,” she said. “I want it to be a tool to help us adapt.”
Although the site is solely for finding friends, it is similar to a dating site in that a member fills out a profile and can search for people with similar profiles. They can also do keyword searches and find a person or group in their area who likes a certain activity.
“Maybe you want to start jogging, and none of your friends jog,” Hartle said. “You could go on FriendMatch and search jogging in the keyword search and make a new friend to go jogging with.”
Harlte said FriendMatch could be beneficial to college students.
“These days, students are very comfortable using technology to help out with their social lives,” she said. “Social apps and networks like Facebook and Twitter allow college and university students to be constantly updated on which bar has the best drink specials or where their friends are. But what if you are new in town, or you don’t drink or are shy and haven’t had the chance to make new friends yet?”
Though students have majorly adopted social media as a form of communication and connection, many are skeptical of a friendship-finding site.
Matt Reid, a senior majoring in operations management, said forming relationships online can take away valuable experiences.
“It takes away social interaction, which we are already losing due to Facebook, Twitter and other social media,” he said.
With the multitude of interests and backgrounds on a college campus, students feel the opportunity to make friends is already readily available.
“In school, I think its value is diminished because you can get out and meet people,” Reagan Hester, a junior majoring in communicative disorders, said. “Human interaction is key for a person.”
