You must be thinking, What about Facebook? But really who was the last friend you actually made on Facebook? Sure, you might be “friends” with a few randos you’ve never met, but you’d never actually hang out with them in real life. In fact, it could be argued that Facebook actually discourages you from having to actually hang out with your real friends. I’m proposing a site that encourages you to make friends and actually hang out in the real world.
The Situation: Sure, there are plenty of dating websites that encourage you to meet new people, but I have a hunch that selecting the “friendship” option on match.com might not be the best approach to making new friends. For platonic fun, there are sites like meetup.com, which arrange social events around common ideas or interests, but those events seem concerned with something other than fun and friendship.
The Product: There ought to be a website for making actual friends, rooted in real activities in the real world. I like to call this site bromance.com (or the equivalent for women). On this site people might be introduced to new folks via ordinarily friendly activities, such as watching a football game, going to a concert, playing tennis, or more.
Bromance.com might have more social value than online dating. Unlike romance, we don’t generally have to pick “the one.” When it comes to friends, you can have lots and often for a long time. Best of all, you can all hang out together and do something fun.
Since most people end up meeting their romantic partners through their friends anyway, romance might be a positive side-effect but not the focus by any means. Although romance is important, let’s not forget to cultivate more bromance in our lives.
