7 People On How They Made New Friends During The Pandemic
Social distancing made meeting new people difficult — but not impossible
Last year, as social distancing made socializing virtually impossible, people got creative with how they kept in touch with others: Instagram dance parties, Zoom theater classes, apps designed for random connection. Although many digital tools simplified connecting with people we already knew, they also empowered some to forge new friendships, too. Better still, these online platforms helped bring virtual bonds into the IRL world. Despite the social challenges the pandemic wrought — no more friend-of-a-friend introductions at parties for a while — people did manage to make new friends. Here’s how seven people say they did it.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
I love karaoke. My favorite karaoke host figured out virtual karaoke pretty early in the pandemic. She attracted a crowd of regulars twice a week, mostly different from her former crowd of in-person regulars, which included me. Now I know those people and consider them friends. Two of them even started dating each other.
Between songs, we talked as a group, and that’s a decent way to get to know people — on top of seeing and hearing them perform multiple times every week. If I…
