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by jblok 3432 days ago
Any app that tries to make me talk to strangers is an instant no from me. I can do that quite easily without an app and I choose not to, daily.
3 comments

But it's not about getting users to talk to strangers. The app is only meant to help you do stuff with people you already know, but are not necessarily good friends... in other words, people you might have only met a couple of times and find interesting enough to want to catch up with.
This is not the case for many people. There are people that need this "catalyst".

This can happen when you move to a new town/country. Or when you're just not socially weired to be open to strangers with easiness.

I mean, an app like this does have value imo. Maybe not this one, but like this. Ie, i'd love to meet other people trying to meet other people, but like online dating, i want the right grouping.

I don't want friends with no common interests. Right there that means going to a bar and making a friend is not likely to fit my profile desire. I could go to a common interest ground, like a sports bar or gaming center, but then i'm with a group of people who are not all looking for friends/etc.

I think there's room in this scape for most people. A dating site for friends. However i'm not sure what good features or UX is needed to wrap this concept in.

The app collates your phonebook/Facebook contacts and you can create your own groups! You can create groups for people who are good friends, besties or acquaintances. So when you're making a plan to do something, you can send out an invite to whichever group you choose. At that point, invites are sent out randomly (you can also choose instead to handpick who you invite) to those in that group. It's kind of like social potluck. Let serendipity choose who you end up hanging out with.
I'm trying to start something very similar to what you described. I would love to hear your thoughts on it: https://www.thecoopapp.com
I think most people (even introverts like me) do want to talk to more random people, they just want a small level of vetting to weed out the complete crazies.
Exactly! People have, on average, 338 friends on facebook. That's a good pool of contacts who are easier to vet, right?