Socially – New App For Building Social Connections Launches in UK
A new social discovery app, aptly named, Socially, is launching next month in October across the UK. It rejects endless profile scrolling and tedious messaging, and instead embraces AI and the power of real meetups. Socially is available on both the App store and Google Play and free to use. It hopes to help fast track social connections beneficial to people’s health.
Socially is activating its initial launch in the UK and specifically in the town of Brighton. It’s a common approach taken by social discovery apps to focus marketing efforts and reach in a single area. This helps build up a user base and a proof of concept. The expansion of the app can then be managed. It’s no good signing up 10,000 members, if those 10,000 members are not actually near each other for meet-ups.
Socially will focus on organising both in-real-life and virtual hangouts for small groups. It limits organised activities to a max of five people, to try and hit that sweet spot where meaningful connections can be created in every event planned on the app. Users are advertised events and activities, not people, on the app. The real getting to know someone can be done in person at a shared interest – rather than judging someone’s ability to write an engaging profile page.
Darren Newman, Co-founder and CEO of Socially, who spoke at last week’s Social Discovery Insights inaugural conference, highlighted the importance of apps that nurture and foster social connections. He said:
“It just takes so long to make new friends these days! I wanted to create an app that replicated that experience of building social connections and friendships through the participation of mutual interests but that expedited it. Where everyone is there to widen their social circle through the enjoyment of mutual interests and where there’s no fear of rejection or embarrassment.”
An app like Socially can take the awkwardness and ambiguity out of a situation. There’s no umming and erring if the person you have met is interested in making friends when you find each other on Socially, as opposed to when you have made friendly passing conversation at the gym, or at a gig with a person. The app also makes use of AI technology to reduce the barriers and awkwardness of setting up an event. AI will help auto generate a description for the event you want to set up. You can then of course edit to perfect it, but the initial work of getting something down is relieved.
Additionally – the app will have a dedicated student pathway, to help university students connect with each other on their own campus or further afield.
Socially can be downloaded for free on both the App store and Google Play Store.
