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Show HN: FriendsTonight – Meet new people nearby with your friends
- vonklaus 11y agoI am pumped for you launching an app and completing something probably feels great. I think it is a bit derivative of grouper and tinder, and social networks have the chicken and the egg problem, but seriously, nice! You might want to launch or promote it in a specific area to try and gain critical mass, as having 1 million users wouldn't be helpful if they were distributed across the country. Try and win a college, neighborhood or city and then let it spread organically. Good luck!
- friendstonight 11y agoThanks vonklaus- you're completely right- it is very similar to tinder and grouper- however FriendsTonight has a few main differences 1. We're about meeting new people in groups, not dating- I actively tried to reduce the "dating app" feel as much as possible. 2. When you make a request to hang out with someone- it only lasts until the end of the night (4am). If the other group doesn't respond by then, they lose the chance to meet you. 3. All likes, matches and chats disappear at the end of the night. I'm trying to focus all my initial marketing in NYC. From what I've learned, my target market is young professionals or people that just graduated college. Would love to chat with you more about marketing. Feel free to email me at sam@friendstonightapp.com
- loceng 11y agoEverything is dating.
- Untit1ed 11y agoI gotta agree - honestly I think you're wise to avoid the expectation that it will be used for dating, but the most compelling use case for this has got to be being out with a group of single friends and wanting to meet another group of single friends of the opposite sex.
- justizin 11y agoIs it? I have go-to friends that I hang out with pretty regularly, sometimes we end up playing pool or sharing a table with some other folks that do or don't want to chat, it makes our time a lot more interesting, but organically it doesn't always work out well because sometimes the people you got shoved next to are on a date when you're catching a game with your buddies. I could totally see trying this out.
- Untit1ed 11y agoMe too, I just can't see myself ever bothering with an app to facilitate it. The other problem is that it's hard enough getting a group to agree on what restaurant to go to, getting an entire group to agree to go somewhere to meet another random group from an app sounds pretty difficult unless there's a greater shared goal like dating.
- davnicwil 11y agoSpot on. A very significant intrinsic motivator to go out and socialise for most single people (a large percentage of young professionals and people who just graduated college) is the possibility of meeting someone. It's a great concept, but embracing the dating aspect rather than fighting the tide on it might work out better.
- elif 11y agoHow does this hinder you from dating? because you have to explain to the person you've met that you want to date them, rather than it being implicit? isn't that just... the way it's always been pre-hookup-apps?
- IgorPartola 11y agoI don't know about that. I am not looking to date anyone, but would love to make more friends in the area. Don't forget: not everyone is young and single.
- davnicwil 11y agoTotally agree, and even for people actively looking to date it's only one of many motivations to go out and meet new people, but it is definitely a significant one. And since the target demographic is young professionals and recent college graduates - indeed a very large proportion of that market is young and single :-)
- Blackthorn 11y agoI don't know. I'm married but I'm also pretty lonely having just moved to a new area. I'd love nothing more than to just find some new friends.
- willow9886 11y agoThe last thing the world needs is more social networking and dating apps. Why do people still think this is a problem?
- eljimmy 11y agoI don't think anyone thinks it's still a problem. They are just trying to get their piece of the pie.
- rimunroe 11y agoIn my experience, Tinder was a huge improvement over things like OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, etc, but Tinder has a super clunky app and is still geared mostly toward hookups. There is always room for improvement!
- liviu- 11y ago>Tinder was a huge improvement over things like OkCupid How so?
- fnimick 11y agoLower barrier to entry, all you need to get started are some photos. Creates a higher user population, so the % of creeps is lower (from conversation, this seems to be what turns my female friends off traditional dating apps) And lastly, there's no real negative social stigma attached to it, partially because it's so popular. With traditional dating sites, people think you're a loser if you have a profile.
- makeitsuckless 11y ago> there's no real negative social stigma attached to it We live in world of bubbles, and apparently mine ends where yours begins.
- acheron 11y ago
- uniclaude 11y agoInteresting concept, and congratulations on shipping! I think you should rework the copy ("you group = liked"?!), but I'm interested in seeing whether this gets traction. I'm based in Japan, where people usually like to meet in groups, even for romantic relationships (look for gōkon[1]), so if you don't have the growth you're looking for in the US, try on the other side of the Pacific. Ping me if you have a question. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dating#Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dating#Japan
- friendstonight 11y agoThanks uniclaude! You definitely hit it nail on the head about meeting up in groups- it's a lot less awkward and safer. FriendsTonight is less about dating and more about meeting new people- I envision it as more like meeting new people at a houseparty- there's no expectation of a people being single. Growth has been tough- it's definitely a chicken/egg problem. Would love to hear more of your feedback, I'll definitely ping you.
- friendstonight 11y agoHey uniclaude, I have no way to message you directly, you can email me at sam@friendstonightapp.com
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- jetpm 11y agoSo I need friends to find friends, and an iPhone. Damn. But It looks cool, if I had friends and an iPhone I'd probably use it.
- friendstonight 11y agoHey jetpm- I totally agree. I wish we had an android version, but it's too hard for me to manage two codebases at once. You can leave your email at http://www.friendstonightapp.com/#download http://www.friendstonightapp.com/#download in the android request section and we'll let you know asap when it's out!
- hbcondo714 11y agoI'm sure the HN community can help you with this issue. There are a few platforms like PhoneGap that allow you to develop mobile apps on multiple devices using one codebase.
- morgante 11y agoCool idea, but I'm interested in the choice of matching groups together. If I can already put together a group of friends, what's the compelling reason to add another group? This would seem much more helpful if it helped individuals to form groups of friends spontaneously.
- friendstonight 11y agoHey morgante, You can use FriendsTonight as a single person, but really would prefer you to use it as a group (it's more safe and less awkward). Have you ever been out with a few of your friends and tried to meet new people (either romantically or non-romantically)- wouldn't it be cool if you knew people nearby wanted to meet you as well?
- morgante 11y ago> Have you ever been out with a few of your friends and tried to meet new people (either romantically or non-romantically)- wouldn't it be cool if you knew people nearby wanted to meet you as well? No, I have not. When I go out with my friends, I usually want to hang out with my friends. Sometimes, however, all my friends are busy but I'd be up for meeting some new ones.
- leoplct 11y agoI think is embarrassing meet an unknown man/woman and start a conversation based on the fact that they have to meet each other because they matched with a social app. The problem is not "How to meet people". I think socialization is a more complex process that is very difficult to engineering. This article explain it more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/fashion/the-challenge-of-making-friends-as-an-adult.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/fashion/the-challenge-of-m...
- friendstonight 11y agoGreat article leoplct- I definitely read this article and it influenced the way I designed my app. FriendsTonight can't force you to meet new people, but we try to make it as less awkward as possible by making it "groups meeting groups" not "person meeting person". It totally is a very complex process to meet a person, but I'm trying to make my dent in the world : )
- wangii 11y agoNice app! congrat! I'm interested in how you guys plan to solve the empty restaurant problem.
- friendstonight 11y agoThanks wangjii! I'm still figuring that out, but I know it involves a lot of hustlin' on my end.
- apoverton 11y agoLooks like a competitor to weCliq (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wecliq/id965067652?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wecliq/id965067652?mt=8)
- friendstonight 11y agoYep, it's the same concept, but different implementations. For FriendsTonight, we really want people to be spontaneous. So all likes, matches, and chats disappear at the end of the night.
- ectoplasm 11y agoOften people have more than one social circle. Sometimes I've met some new people because one of my friends has decided to get some people from two of their social circles together, and I'm in only one of them. Maybe you could work this into your app - I've rarely hung out with people I have no social connection to.
- friendstonight 11y agoThat's true- but I think it would've made the app even more difficult to work. Maybe it's a feature I can add when I have more users. However FriendsTonight will show you if you have any mutual facebook friends.
- wehadfun 11y agoA way for a group of guys to arrange to be with group of girls sounds awesome. Me and my buddies would have loved this.
- friendstonight 11y agoThanks! It's not just for groups of guys and girls- mixed groups can meet as well!
- friendstonight 11y agoI have no idea how I got so lucky, but FriendsTonight is also on ProductHunt- please check us out! http://www.producthunt.com/tech/friendstonight http://www.producthunt.com/tech/friendstonight
- nirmel 11y agoI once tried starting something like this. What I found is that people have very little motivation to meet strangers for the purpose of friendship. Another company built a very similar product, but focussed on dating, and they did much better, while my product failed. Not to say that you didn't figure out how to do this, but I think there's wishful thinking among some founders (like me) that people want to make new friends and will use an app to do so.
- jetpm 11y agoWhen I think about it, it feels like there is some sort of mental barrier that I have to overcome to make plans with strangers. Maybe when the meetups would be less personal like 20 random people going to a bar or club, I'd rather join in on something. Then nobody would realize if I leave, but if I bond with some people its fine.
- degenerate 11y agoWhen you meet a stranger, the actual purpose of small talk is to try to find some common ground. Some people are better at it than others (I am horrible)... but if some common ground can be established, both people will have an easier time making conversation. That's why so many meetups are centered around an activity/topic. I would much rather attend a group of "20 random people that list kayaking as a sport they enjoy" than "20 random people".
- jetpm 11y agoThat's a good point, completely random would be too much, at least the age should be somewhat similar and maybe the place to meet is also a context, e.g. a bar already indicates a form of interest, different than meeting in the water park.
- friendstonight 11y agoHey nirmel- would love to chat more about your experiences! Please email me at sam@friendstonightapp.com
- jkeel 11y agoI hope your app does well and catches on. I enjoy meeting new people and not always just dating. I'm going to spread the word!
- friendstonight 11y agoThanks jkeel!
- swah 11y agoI was thinking about this the other day... Should I get an iPhone? In my country the Android has 90% market share but... richer or artistic people mostly have iPhones. They probably spend more on apps and services as well. So, to make money, should I get an iPhone and build apps for iOS? (Of course, I'm rooting for Android to reach the same quality in the long run)
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- JeremyMorgan 11y agoStudies have shown you make a lot more from IOS apps than Android. There is a culture of "we already have it, and it's free" with Android that makes monetization tough.
- friendstonight 11y agoHey swah- do you want to develop apps for home country or for the US? I used to have an android version- but it was so difficult to maintain two code bases. Also it's very difficult to make (decent) money in the app store just by selling your app.
- swah 11y agoWherever there is more money to make :P (I think EasyTaxi is the only big app hit from Brazil in the last few years).
- dhimes 11y agoAs others have pointed out, the 'young single' scene is primarily about dating, whether it's obviously so or not. The social group that really has a difficult time is the couple with youngish kids who just moved out of their 'starter' dwelling and into a neighborhood with good schools, etc. It is surprisingly difficult to break into new social groups at that age. The options are church groups and jock groups (for parents whose kids are into and fairly good at multiple sports). If that's not your thing, it can get pretty lonely. In your first neighborhood, everybody is a new parent and it's pretty easy to get together and hang out with neighbors (even over a few drinks) while the kids play with each other. You have parties and the kids are all there playing with each other also. Everybody is kind of at the same place in life and making more-or-less the same money. Those who went to college/grad school still haven't quite caught up with the folks who started their careers earlier, so there is quite a diverse population available to become friends. At the next stage, however, it's tougher. You are moving your elementary school-age children into neighborhoods where the other parents might have high-school age children. Perhaps you changed cities (or states). It's pretty tough to break in because your life has become more kid-focused, and there is less time for other adults. An app like this might be well received in that market.
- friendstonight 11y agoGreat point dhimes! Not everyone that uses the app necessarily has to be "on the prowl". I definitely was thinking about people in their early 30's and how hard to meet new people at that age. If you have any ideas how to target this market, I'd love to hear them. You can email me at sam@friendstonightapp.com
- joeyspn 11y ago> I definitely was thinking about people in their early 30's and how hard to meet new people at that age. Well, that definitely depends on your social abilities...
- jegutman 11y agoI don't know, being in that demo, seems like the main issue is that I don't meet many people through normal activities. And some of the hobby-like activities where I go to meetups are things aren't really filed with people I'd like to be friends with as a "couple" with my wife. Probably widely varies by profession / lifestyle though.
- jmtame 11y agoEssentially Grouper, but you choose the groups and it happens immediately. I think the model where you take something and make it happen a lot faster is compelling and this seems like it has potential for the 20 somethings in the big cities. Good luck.
- friendstonight 11y agoThanks jmtame. FriendsTonight is similar with some key differences - you don't need to be single - mixed groups and odd numbered groups are okay (2 women vs 5 men and women) - it's free - all chats and likes disappear at the end of the night to get people to be spontaneous
- friendstonight 11y agoWow. It's been a crazy day. http://www.businessinsider.com/new-app-friendstonight-wants-to-get-you-an-on-demand-group-of-friends-right-now-2015-7 http://www.businessinsider.com/new-app-friendstonight-wants-...