Dating apps have made it easier for busy millennials to potentially “find the one” but now who needs to find a lover when you can find a friend?
Online dating is a new trend in the dating world. In the last few years, most people would rather use the convenience of swiping over organically look for a partner. Dating apps allow individuals to filter their likes and dislikes and be potentially matched up with a person who has their preferred qualities. Now, apps won’t just find you a partner but a friend.
When you grow up in an area or go to school it might be easy to meet people with similar interests. As we get older or move to a new unknown place making friends can become more difficult. Imagine moving across the country and not knowing a single person in your new town, how would you meet someone?
Well, Bumble BFF and Hey! VINA have you covered. Bumble has gone from just a dating app to an application that can help you make friends in your area as well. Hey! VINA, however, is strictly for women finding friends and does not have a dating feature. These apps allow busy millennials who may not know where to go or how to meet people to have the chance to find friends with similar interests.
How exactly do you use a best friend finding app?
How Bumble BFF works
According to Bumble, Bumble BFF is a “simplified way to create meaningful friendships.”
Similar to the actual dating app Bumble, Bumble BFF allows you to make an account with up to six photos, draft a bio and set your age, gender and location preferences. Once your account is set up, you are able to swipe!
How Hey! VINA Works
Hey! VINA is described as the perfect app for women to make friends. You can not only swipe to meet friends but join communities and know about events in your area.
The app is different from Bumble in the sense that it emphasizes text over photos.
Setting up a profile
Setting up your profile is probably one of the hardest and most important parts of using a friend-finding app. You want to be open and honest but at the same time be able to express yourself and what you are looking for. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. Marie Claire suggests avoiding cliches and using “action shots” or photos that depict your personality. Have fun with it- you’re trying to meet someone who you want to become close with. It’s important to stay positive and use positive language, but more important to just be yourself.
The Swiping
The swipe feature for both apps are the same as they are for dating. You swipe through profiles left for no and right for yes until you get a match. Bumble BFF uses the idea it has behind convenient dating to help you find potential friends by sharing photos then a brief bio at the end. Hey! VINA emphasizes text more with more space to write a profile and a smaller area for photos. When compared to Bumble BFF, Hey! VINA depicts one’s bio at the beginning of a profile. Swiping allows you to further filter out who you’d want to potentially be friends with. For example, if you’re a homebody who doesn’t like to go out late at night be mindful of who you’re swiping for- don’t swipe for someone who only has pictures from clubs.
Matches
While Bumble BFF works similar to Bumble the dating app in the sense that you can only message a person who has matched, Hey! VINA has more features that allow one to meet a friend. A person can click on the “Discover” section of the app to discover events in their area or join communities if they are having trouble matching with individuals.
What’s next?
Once you match or discover events then it’s time for you to work your magic and meet your new potential friends. Both apps allow their users to interact digitally but it is up to you to put yourself out there and meet up.
Remember not to be discouraged
While some have had positive experiences with these apps, there have been a few people who have shared a loss in confidence. It is important to remember that like online dating, these apps allow anyone to depict themselves the way they want virtually.
Don’t be discouraged if you have trouble meeting someone or if someone is not like they first seemed. With online dating comes the risk of meeting some strange individuals but who’s to say you won’t meet your best friend?
Go in with an open mind and don’t be discouraged putting yourself out there whether it is to meet “the one” or new friends is always the first step.
