How to Make Friends as an Adult in 2020

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Making friends as an adult is hard. Making friends as an adult in the dumpster fire that is 2020 is even harder! And if ever we needed a friend's shoulder to weep on, the time is now. So how can you expand your friend circle when social distancing makes potential friends so... distant? Here are a few ideas to put you on the path toward finding your next BFF.

Facebook Groups

You're probably already scrolling the Book of Faces endlessly every day anyway, why not use it to actually meet new people instead of catching up on every detail of the former high school prom queen's life with her five kids? There is a Facebook group for literally every interest. And if it's a tight-knit girl crew you're after, I'm going to go ahead and shamelessly plug The Princess Posse because you deserve to know and yes, you can TOTALLY sit with us! But seriously, if you have an interest like dogs, snail mail, a certain island-centric video game, hula hooping, or Rube Goldberg machines, chances are, there's a Facebook group for it!

Bumble For Friends (BFF)

It's not just for dating anymore! Bumble For Friends helps you connect with local gals in your area to find what you have in common. And anyways, finding a new friend is kind of like dating, right? In this app you can view other people's profiles, find out what their interests are, see their Insta feed, and swipe left or right if you think you might get along. If you both swipe right, you get a match and can direct message each other! Just make sure you select the For Friends option when signing up.

Honorable Mention: Hey! VINA is a similar Tinder-style gal pal app you can try.

Meetup.com

Meetup is the classic way to find local groups in your area that love to do what you love to do! Whether it's cycling, hiking, gaming, knitting, book clubs, or networking, these folks are serious about meeting up. It's literally in the name of the service. No ghosting here! Can't find your niche? Feel free to set up your own group and see who joins!

BONUS: The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt (the World Has Ever Seen)

Ok, stay with me here: every summer, there is a worldwide scavenger hunt called GISH. Participants complete tasks from a laundry list of items including community service, creating works of art, learning new skills, and a few requests on the... bizarre side! This year, GISH has hosted several smaller hunts, with all registration proceeds benefiting various charity organizations, including Random Acts. My first year of GISH was in 2016 and I got matched with a group of people in Oklahoma. To this day, I am still friends with them and even had the opportunity to meet one of them in person! All this to say, that working together to virtually to complete a crazy scavenger hunt has got to be one of the best team building/friendship birthing exercises there is.

Note: At the time of this writing, GISH is currently holding open registration for a hunt to occur October 30-November 1, 2020.

Hopefully soon our pre-pandemic life will seem not quite so far away anymore and we can go back to meeting people at gyms, churches, and dog parks again. But until then, I hope you found this list helpful! If you have another idea to add, drop it in the comments. I'd love to hear it! Happy friendship forging!