Society
Feeling Isolated? FriendAPP Might Help
“After 2020, we saw an acceleration of people working remote and relocating, which further exasperated the problem of isolation,” said the app developer, Brickell techie Chuck Walter.
Chuck Walter wants to help break the trend of more screen time, and leverage technology to bring local friends closer together.
Chuck Walter created FriendApp to help people focus on the relationships they want to nurture. With all the distractions of social media, having a space that was not about content, was critical. “I found that often the people I really wanted to stay in touch with weren’t active on social media, but it’s so easy to give more of your attention to the people at the top of your newsfeed.”
“With remote work on the rise, we no longer have the same access to physical social interaction.” It’s up to us to find peers in our neighborhood who we can meet up with, share what we’re working on, and hopefully turn those new acquaintances into stronger friends.”
Chuck Walter wants to leverage his 20 years of experience leading various digital products for Univision and Tigo. After seeing firsthand the isolation of working remotely in Brickell, Downtown, and other metropolitan neighborhoods, he set out to create a new type of social network that could assist people in their social habits. “There are plenty of ways of meeting new people, but sometimes the biggest challenge is following up.”
At the moment, FriendApp is available on iOS, which permits people to quickly see the people they have added recently to their phone, organize contacts into lists, and use the app as a starting point for communication. The next phase involves publishing tools for individuals and businesses to share upcoming local events, favorite places, and activities of interest.
The workspace for remote workers is the neighborhood.
In addition to FriendApp, Chuck Walter has also started a meetup for locals in the tech industry in Brickell. “Part of building community involves engaging newcomers, and offering a space where they can meet other people in similar situations. A space where you can meet people that would make follow-up interactions more convenient. The same forces that allowed us to make close friends in high school and college can be applied to adulthood, but sometimes we need a nudge to get out of our homes and make plans with other locals.”
Creating a Community
METRO NEWS +: We believe that a local publication must be connected to its readers, accordingly we organize social gatherings, forums, the Downtown Arts and Science Salons, to grow our readership organically. How can FriendApp help us further develop a less anonymous audience? Or maybe the question should be, how can it help readers be better connected to METRO NEWS+?
Chuck Walter: We’re currently working on the tools that would allow anyone to self-publish local guides to feature upcoming events, restaurants, bars. We would allow people to include event links from multiple sources, and then make it easy for others to add these events to their own pages to indicate their interest in attending. There are plenty of event listings, but the sharing of experiences has not been prioritized in social media platforms. FriendApp hopes to change that, and facilitate METRO NEWS+ in their local experience curation. The more readers engage in their communities, meeting up with other locals, the more we expect they will want to read local news. It all feeds into being part of a community. Stay tuned.
