Question / need help: would you like to meet new people, e.g. do activities or try new things with them? Just for fun or even to make friends? Whats missing to get there?
tl;dr people are more lonely than ever - how to change that for the better? what do you think (in general - totally off this idea-outline, please share!) and what do you think about this idea - a nonprofit webpage to find company for activities
why Zurich
I live here and wanted to hear opinions from ZH people first - I'd like to do smth that matters to people here.
background
I feel like todays 15-35 year olds (at least them, maybe more?) find themselves lonely or isolated regularly. I've often heard (at least from expats) that its hard to meet new people & form friendships.
Casually meeting strangers nowadays doesnt work like some decades back where (aparently) you could just approach people and start talking (whoow!)
I wonder if there is a way to improve this - according to science (very high quality short video on science how to make friends)
The goal - connect people - make them meet & spend time - and in the best case form connections that last & contribute to quality of life for everyone
why it matters - social connection and pro-sociality is a key health factor (source harvard.edu)
How to get there / idea: - A non-profit page / portal where people list activities / encounters they want to do with / for others, imagine like a swiping (almost tinder like) experience - but instead of focusing on looks, focus on the commonality - activities! The algorithm lets you filter key things, location, time, category of activity - interests of the poster (one time event, long-term friendship etc) - but the algo could also suggest based on preferences at some point - activities can look like:
e.g.:
- do sport X, running, cycling, hiking, swimming...
- go to venue Y, museum, cinema, concert, event
- do something small, take lunch / dinner, a coffee, city stroll
also possible to list other things, e.g. group-activities & events & have >1 person sign up:
- dancing at bellevue in the open (saw this a few times, lovely!)
- voluntary work, e.g. nature conservation, caritas, student support etc
- conversation - open ended or about topic XYZ
- book-club / discussion - invite 1-3 people to meet in a caffee at saturday at 2pm
also possible to ask for help & offer help:
- I need tool X, do work Z (is someone nearby who could help out)?
- go for a dog-walk
- babysitt
- do gardening work - offer a lunch in exchange maybe?
- offer students help with homework
- help elderly people with groceries, trip to doctors etc
The key goal of the page is to make encounters between people - make people give and take - and mutually profit - its always hard to ask someone for something (give) and its always hard to commit to doing X with person Y (take / accept) - it always takes resources do to so (energy, time, risk of it being not right etc) - there should be a way to facilitate both!
The human factor
I dont want to sign up with a stranger for a walk in the woods that I've never seen - sure! How about the first part of swiping is the activity, then further down one gets to the persons profile (minimal, clean, 5 pics max, short bio, logs of recent activities (maybe: feedback from past encounters).
Commitment
worst case scenario is people cancelling last minute after agreeing to something - should have a system that makes people commit, e.g. getting negative feedback when missing commitments
Risks / what already exists
Is this a bad idea? why would it not fly? which risks are there? what similar things exists? whats missing? why would you not use this? Please be constructive & precise - what would make it good / could this issue be fixed?
my opinion & next steps
Personally, I would like such a thing, just to get to know more people & try out new things - as a non-profit, it would be ok if people stop using the page after have enough social contacts - but this might be a big risk as well - low traffic & new postings could make it boring & let the page die slowly or never gain traction!
what do you think about this? Would you use it? if so, why? if not, even more: why? I'm considering doing this as a side-project (should be fast & cheap with AI nowadays, I have SWE background) - if you're interested in contributing pls LMK & lets connect & (try) to do something good for all :)
