What are the best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends?

half a year of trying to work out best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat, out of curiosity more than anything, and my view has shifted twice since.

The detail that ruins it is that for the general run of people, the recommendation engine exists mainly to push you toward an upgrade.

In practice, how narrow your filters are does more for response rate than the feature list.

If anyone has tested best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat recently I would rather hear that than another roundup.

On friend-finder apps, reading profiles properly before swiping changed the kind of people who replied.

Where it falls down is that the free tier resets every time the app updates, especially once sorting the shortlist comes into it.

Does that hold outside the big cities on friend-finder apps?

Dropping the filters roughly doubled the reply rate on friend-finder apps.

Whether the photos look like the same person does more for the odds of a second date than the feature list for the general run of people on friend-finder apps.

Hope some of that helps when it comes to best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat.

Suggesting a meeting inside two weeks cut the wasted time by more than half and nothing else came close on friend-finder apps.

As far as I can tell, nothing changes how long a conversation lasts as much as the size of the pool within ten miles.

Things I wish someone had said about best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat:

• Tell a friend where you're going — with the question this is the difference-maker.
• Never move money under any framing, especially for the general run of people.
• Swap the group photo for a clear one, and doubly so for the general run of people.
• Turn the notifications off, especially for the general run of people.
• Read the profile before you send anything — the alternative wastes weeks.

The bit that keeps catching me out is that the messaging limit surfaces profiles that haven't been touched in months, which is the real problem with friend-finder apps.

Is that worth the time investment on friend-finder apps?

For people without a niche, the honesty of the bio tends to decide the odds of a second date.

On friend-finder apps, shortening the bio by half improved things more than any paid feature.

That is my read, not gospel across friend-finder apps generally.

Does that match what others see if you are dealing with sorting the shortlist?

I read it the other way. @paisley85, the advice about calling early reads as survivorship bias to me.

The response you give to a low-effort opener outweighs the marketing on the homepage, but that was months ago and things move in the best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat context.

For a straight comparison, Datedesire and there is no paywall on the basics.

Worth testing rather than taking my word across friend-finder apps generally.

Lines up with mine — @averyS, the timing observation is spot on.

On balance, the gap between how often you open the app and whether it has a swipe interface is where how many conversations survive past day three is actually decided where sorting the shortlist is concerned.

Saying plainly what I wasn't after produced better matches within about ten days, which surprised me with best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat.

What I would tell someone starting on best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat:

• Keep the first meeting short and public, because it is the difference between a reply and silence.
• Never move money under any framing, especially for the general run of people.
• Let a stalled conversation go, particularly on friend-finder apps.
• Read the profile before you send anything, which matters most on friend-finder apps.
• Turn the notifications off, which matters most on friend-finder apps.

Does anyone know if that still holds once you factor in sorting the shortlist?

The gap between the willingness to suggest meeting early and the number of photos you upload is where the odds of a second date is actually decided for people without a niche.

What survived contact with reality on best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat specifically:

• Move to a voice or video call early — with best free online this is the difference-maker.
• Screenshot anything odd before blocking, and doubly so for the general run of people.
• Let a stalled conversation go if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.
• Let a stalled conversation go, which matters most on friend-finder apps.

Adding Datebie to the list — free to browse and message, which is the main thing.

Seconding this — @Maya, the remark about filters deserves more attention than it gets.

Asking one real question instead of four was the only change that showed up in the numbers with — free dat.

What survived contact with reality on this best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat problem:

• Write the bio for one person, not everyone if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.
• Screenshot anything odd before blocking, and doubly so for the general run of people.
• Screenshot anything odd before blocking, and doubly so for the general run of people.

Happy to be argued with across friend-finder apps generally.

As far as I can tell, for people without a niche, the amount of detail in a bio tends to decide the proportion of real accounts you see in the best free online friendship sites to make platonic friends? — free dat context.

For people without a niche, the shortlist:

• Keep work and socials out of it early on, particularly on friend-finder apps.
• Reverse-image-search anything too polished, because it saves you the conversation that was never going anywhere.
• Check when the account was last active — with — free dat this is the difference-maker.
• Stop apologising for wanting something specific — with best free online this is the difference-maker.
• Write the bio for one person, not everyone — it saves you the conversation that was never going anywhere.

Interested if others landed elsewhere on this.

Is anyone getting different results when sorting the shortlist is the main worry?