Move over, Facebook and Instagram! A new social networking app designed by two Stanford University alumni is helping college students across the country make meaningful connections during the pandemic.
Created by alumni Paa Adu and Sophia Huard, Amigo matches potential friends by serving up a whole host of profiles of other users on a regular basis.
The app was created to help students across the country feeling isolated and lonely during COVID-19 restrictions to connect with friends and peers through a more non-traditional method of socialization.
Unlike apps where students chat and discuss their class workload, Amigo seeks to forge “friendships in a less academic context.”
🔥New app: Amigo. Founded by @Stanford grads. It’s like @Tinder but for making friends. Seems to be growing among Stanford students, I just hopped on! 👀 pic.twitter.com/xbSJMiMLYm
— Michelle Qin (@michelleqin_) December 14, 2020
Huard explained that the idea for Amigo arose when she realized that existing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok weren’t sufficient to make new friends. “These platforms are more to maintain relationships rather than build them,” she told The Standford Daily.
How It Started
Huard and Adu have been friends since their undergraduate days at Stanford. The two of them got to spend more time together this year, discussing everything in the process — from college life to startups. Huard said while the two were brainstorming and discussing their shared love for startups, they kept having a recurring thought about how “it must suck to be a Stanford student right now.”
What started as a simple discussion developed into a full-blown business idea: a social networking platform to provide students with a more “normal” college experience during the pandemic.
Amigo users can create their profile using basic personal information such as their name, location, and date of birth. They can also upload pictures and tailor their profile feed according to their interests. A user can check out fellow Amigo users and choose to either skip a profile or send a message to the person.
Launched at Stanford on December 4, the app is already a hit among colleges including the University of California Berkeley, University of Michigan, Cornell, and Ohio State. The founders hope to expand its reach and want more colleges to hop on the bandwagon.
