HIGH-TECH MATCHMAKER
Meet the woman helping you to pick your inner circle — online
Last year, Amy Wood launched a little website called Yes New Friends — essentially a fun matchmaking service for Toronto women to expand their social circle. It was an instant hit, but the level of signups were beyond what Wood could feasibly handle, and the site took a hiatus. After that, the 29-year-old, who runs a small creative agency, went back to the drawing board. Now, the redesigned website is live again, offering local women a new way to meet friends. We talked to Wood about how this type of tech can help people connect.
How does Yes New Friends work?
There’s a simple set of questions that you answer, mostly to do with age, location, what you do for work and fun, and a few questions probing what you’re looking for in a friend. All of the matches are hand-picked. A dating site, from my limited knowledge, allows you to sort of pick the people you would message. But you can’t see anyone’s profile on Yes New Friends — it’s meant to give you a new, weird experience by doing the matching for you.
Where did the idea come from?
I think it was inspired by a phenomenon a lot of people experience — it is sometimes hard to make friends, particularly in Toronto. It’s an idea I had, because people use online dating, so why don’t people do that to make friends? It struck me as strange that it hadn’t taken off as a concept. I posted on Facebook asking if people would use it, and people really responded positively. There’s a genuine, earnest interest in friendship that hasn’t really been brought to the surface.
Why is it so hard to make friends in Toronto?
It’s a huge city and there’s so many of us, but I can see how people get into a social or daily routine that can be a bit isolating. Whether you’re in a job and the only people you interact with are the people you work with — and if they’re not your friends, then you’re spending your 9-5 with people who aren’t your friends, and it’s hard to break out of that cycle. I think in Toronto — at least in a lot of single lives — the spare time we have where we’re craving social company gets filled in with dating.
Has that been your experience?
I feel really, really lucky to have an amazing group of friends and I feel like that’s changed my life in a lot of ways. Reflecting on my history with friendships, I think I’m more inspired to do that for other people. My philosophy for Yes New Friends isn’t a reaction to loneliness, but if we’re all willing to make one new friend . . . someone to do new activities with or gets your career or opens you up to a new world — well, everyone could use one new friend.