Make new friends

Make new friends near you

Making friends gets harder after school and university. Everyone is busy, routines are fixed, and suggesting a coffee to someone you barely know can feel strangely bold. Most people would love more friends nearby. They just don't know who else is looking.

PingMee makes that visible. You post a status saying what you're up for, see people near you who are open to meeting, and send a ping. If they ping back, a private chat opens and you can take it from there: at your pace, in your area.

Get PingMee for free

See who's around you right now.

Why it's harder than it should be

Friendships usually grow out of seeing the same people again and again: a class, a team, a shared kitchen. Once those disappear, the chance meetings disappear with them. Moving to a new city, changing jobs or working from home can take away the last of them.

None of that means people don't want new friends. It means there's no easy signal that says 'I'm up for meeting someone today'. That signal is what PingMee is built around.

How PingMee helps

Instead of building a profile and waiting, you say what you're doing right now. A status might be 'Anyone fancy a walk on the Heath?' or 'Looking for someone to try the new climbing wall with'. People nearby see it and can ping you; you can ping them too.

Post a status saying what you're up for
See people nearby, within the distance you choose
Send a ping: if they ping back, a private chat opens
Nobody sees your exact location, only an approximate distance
Nothing private opens up until you both accept

Ideas for a first meet-up

The easiest first meet-ups have an activity built in, so the conversation has something to lean on. Keep it public, keep it short, and let it be easy to leave if it isn't clicking.

A walk in a big park, with a coffee on the way
A free museum or gallery on a weekday evening
A parkrun, then breakfast afterwards
A market where you can graze rather than book a table
A gig, quiz or class you were going to anyway

Where people are using it

PingMee works anywhere, but it's busiest where people already are. In London that includes Camden, Hackney, Islington and Haringey; outside London, Birmingham. Start with the London guide if you're in the capital.

For more ideas, read how to make friends in London or our list of things to do alone in London that make it easy to meet people.

How it works

1
Post a status
Say what you're up for: "Coffee this afternoon?"
2
See who's nearby
People around you, within the distance you choose.
3
Send a ping
If they ping back, a private chat opens for the two of you.

Your privacy, by design

Nobody sees your exact location: only an approximate distance.
Nothing private opens up until you both accept each other.
You choose whether you appear to people nearby, and you can block or report anyone.