A few years ago, I was playing around with the idea of moving to the U.K. The idea of enjoying high tea and scones, walking around Shoreditch, and strolling across the London Bridge filled me with excitement, but one aspect of the move terrified me - how would I make friends? 

In an effort to ease my concerns, I reached out to friends and acquaintances (really anyone else that would listen) that had lived in London for advice and insight. In speaking with a previous co-worker who had spent extensive time in the U.K., I asked her how she had met friends while in London.

“Oh, don’t worry about that at all,” she said. “You’re single, right? You’ll meet so many people through dates. That’s how I made all my friends, they were just friends of people I dated.” 

“I’m not single, actually,” I replied tentatively. 

“Ah, well, uh, still- it’ll be totally fine,” she explained as she waved it off. 

It seemed to me that meeting dates was easier than meeting new friends. 

But why should it be?

Using online services for dating is so commonplace now, I’m actually shocked when a friend tells me they met their newest significant other organically. However, using apps or social media to meet friends is becoming increasingly popular, especially with nomads, travelers, or expats. 

Panion is built for people to meet like-minded friends with common interests, for platonic relationships. With the keyword-searchable function, Panion encourages you to filter through users to find those you have something in common with. 

There’s no shortage of dating apps, and dating apps exist for subcultures or specific groups of people, but apps for platonic relationships that aim to forge friendships on a deeper level - those are in short supply. 

Panion was designed for platonic relationships and we work hard to ensure that all members adhere to guidelines and feel comfortable in our community. Panion doesn’t encourage unsolicited romantic messages to others within the app, and lets members know that profiles should not be built for seeking romantic relationships, but platonic ones only. 

On our end, we’re working hard to remove users that do not stick to our standards, and your help is much appreciated! If you ever feel like a message you receive is inappropriate, please do block and report the user so we can investigate and take the needed measures. You can read more about our Community Guidelines here.

Outside of the app, what direction your friendship takes is on your own terms. We aren’t the romance police, and once you and your panion meet IRL, we can’t dictate what happens next. That being said, we hope you and your panion treat each other with mutual respect. 

Making new friends is fun and exciting, and we want it to stay that way. Help us make Panion a warm and inviting community for everyone by following the guidelines and letting us know when something makes you uncomfortable. Now, happy friending everyone!