These days most people find love online. And why not let a computer choose our romantic partners? They are afterall curing cancer and finding the origins of the universe. The least they could do is find someone for us to be naked in front of. For the most part it works and any Snake Person that tells you online dating is rough remind them in the ’90’s you had to walk up and talk to strangers. Yikes!
Until now, friends usually met the old fashioned way. But a new group of apps is hoping to help us find friends, which are just relationships where you keep your clothes on.
If this sounds like the premise of the next Paul Rudd bro-mance movie, it’s because the problem of finding people to just hang out with is real. But it seems people quite ready to meet their best mate online yet. Fast Company profiles many failed apps aimed at finding us Platonic partners.
“And while urban coffee shops might once have been neighborhood community centers featuring cozy couches like the ones made famous in Central Perk on TV’s Friends, nowadays they’re closer to coworking spaces. Customers are often there to work or study, not talk to strangers.
‘Walk into a coffee shop right now, and you won’t see a single person who’s not on a device,’ Jasani exclaims. ‘It’s just not an approachable environment.'”
Perhaps there is something about a friend that is more intimate than a lover? Afterall that might be the why we like shows like Friends. Romantic partners come and go, but friends tend to stick around. And they’re not your family. You get to choose your friends. In an increasingly digital life, friendship might be the last real thing we don’t leave up to an algorithm. There will always be something about friendship that has to do with timing and serendipity. There’s no app for that.
h/t Fast Company