culture
Yes New Friends Combats Social Isolation the Fun Way
New friendship matchmaking platform aims to link Toronto women with new BFFs.
Illustration by Gillian Goerz.
Don’t just take Tay Swift’s word for it: female friendship is manna. But, as anyone who has ever tried to move from city to city—or negotiate the delicate balance between career and relationships—in adulthood can attest, it isn’t always easy to make friends beyond the institutional cradles of youth. Enter Yes New Friends, a free platonic matchmaking service that aims to populate #squads for Toronto’s busy women.
The platform originally launched in September 2014 but, flooded with hundreds of applications, went on hiatus within a few months. “We were honestly so overwhelmed with the unexpected response, there just wasn’t an easy way to keep up,” says the project’s founder, Amy Wood. “And we wanted to relaunch when there was a platform we felt could keep that grassroots feeling while also working a lot faster. I think we’ve nailed it.”
Wood, who operates a small creative agency for a living, started the project on a whim. “I feel really lucky to have developed wonderful friendships with a number of inspiring women,” she says. “They’re like my family, and I saw this opportunity to maybe give that gift to someone else and I just had to go for it.” She hopes her platform will serve to playfully offset the challenges of making friends as an adult in a large urban centre.
With the help of developer Ian Katsuno and illustrator Gillian Goerz, the new Yes New Friends site is slated to launch in early November.