Would you pay \u00a320 a month for the chance of making a friend, on the understanding that an algorithm \u2013 not you \u2013 gets to decide who you\u2019ll meet?<\/p>\n
Driven by the decline of \u201cthird spaces\u201d such as youth centres and pubs, an increase in remote working and rising loneliness \u2013 40% of adults aged 16 to 29 feel lonely \u201calways, often or some of the time\u201d, according to the Office for National Statistics \u2013 paid social events are now in vogue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been anything that feels authentic to helping people meet people,\u201d says Nicola Gunby, a co-founder of Cliq, an online platform and app that aims \u201cto bring people together through shared interests and real-world experiences\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first place people in their 20s and 30s turn to when trying to make friends is Facebook groups,\u201d she says. \u201cBut they\u2019ve ended up becoming a noticeboard for people who\u2019ve, say, lost their dog or want to sell their bed.\u201d For Gunby, these groups are \u201cfar too big and broad to be a genuine community\u201d.<\/p>\n
Into this gap has stepped a new wave of what are effectively paid social clubs.<\/p>\n
The way people decide on which social events to attend is starting to change. Photograph: ToucanStudios\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The mechanics are fairly simple: platforms such as PLY (it stands for People Like You) and Agora match people using information such as their interests, lifestyle habits and profession. Then, typically, an algorithm decides which events a user should attend, as opposed to free alternatives, such as the Meetup platform, that leave that choice with members.<\/p>\n
The ideal outcome for participants is showing up, making some new connections and leaving with plans to meet up again.<\/p>\n
But as these clubs spread across UK cities \u2013 typically charging from nothing at all to \u00a320 a month \u2013 the question for anyone considering joining, is the same as you would ask about any subscription: what are you actually paying for, and is it worth it?<\/p>\n
At PLY, memberships tend to start at \u00a319.99 a month, giving members access to exclusive events and discounts with other businesses, falling to about \u00a39.99 a month for longer commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you do things for free, people often don\u2019t turn up,\u201d says Karen Harris, the founder of PLY, of its membership model. \u201cPeople need someone who\u2019s committed, who\u2019s looking to maintain friendships and taking it seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can use Meetup without having to pay a fee. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
According to Harris, the majority of PLY\u2019s customers sign up for longer-term memberships \u2013 a reflection of both the lower cost and of how long a friendship takes\u00a0to build. On average, she says,\u00a0it takes three events \u201cto find your person\u201d.<\/p>\n
Other clubs offer a mix of pay-as-you-go and subscription options. This is Agora\u2019s model as it makes things more accessible, argues its founder, Sahil Shirazee.<\/p>\n
In the two years since its launch, the club has hosted more than 300 events and claims to have helped form hundreds of friendships.<\/p>\n
For some of those looking to make new friends, flexibility is important. \u201cA membership fee would make me feel pressured into attending so many events every month,\u201d says Charlotte Johnson, 29, from Hertfordshire, who is a Cliq user.<\/p>\n
Paying per event \u201cencourages me to go if I\u2019ve paid for it\u201d while leaving her free to not attend those that aren\u2019t of interest to her.<\/p>\n
Johnson says that \u201cwhat really surprised me was I got more than expected\u201d. She highlights a recent brunch event that included things such as a take-home goodie bag. She has since signed up for a pottery event.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s there for the same, if not similar, reasons,\u201d she adds, \u201cwhich takes a lot of the fear out of meeting strangers.\u201d If participants don\u2019t click with anyone within a month of joining, some of the platforms, including PLY, offer a money-back guarantee.<\/p>\n
Cliq hosts run clubs. Photograph: Cliq<\/p>\n
Not everyone is convinced that paying for friendship is something to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Shirazee admits he still gets asked why people should have to pay to meet each other at all. But, he says, if you want to solve problems such as loneliness, and create meaningful communities as quickly as possible, \u201cyou need to make sure the people who want to crack this issue are able to not only get compensated, but grow\u201d.<\/p>\n
Harris rejects the idea that people are \u201cpaying for access to\u00a0strangers\u201d.<\/p>\n
double quotation markYou\u2019re paying for a system, for structure, that makes connections much betterPLY founder Karen Harris<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re paying for a system, for structure, that makes connections much better,\u201d she says. Free socialisation, she argues, usually relies on the presence of a host or facilitator, whereas at PLY events, \u201cinteraction is peer-to-peer, without a facilitator moving you forward\u201d.<\/p>\n
Free events haven\u2019t disappeared, though \u2013 and continue to be the preferred option for some.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tend to choose free events most of the time because I can\u2019t always afford to pay for social activities,\u201d says Giovanna Giusi, a primary school teacher.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old says she appreciates having access to a mixture of free events, such as hikes or walks, and paid events. This allows her to \u201cbe part of a community even when money is\u00a0tighter\u201d.<\/p>\n
She says the paid events \u201cmake it possible to offer experiences that couldn\u2019t realistically happen for free, such as workshops with instructors, private classes or activities that need a venue\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople always say they want more community and more opportunities to meet others, but it\u2019s easy to forget that organising those communities still takes time, work and money,\u201d Giusi says.<\/p>\n
Whether paid socialisation becomes the norm is, for now, an open question.<\/p>\n
Despite it being the foundation of their business model, the organisers say they hope not. \u201cIn the long run, I don\u2019t want Agora to exist,\u201d Shirazee says, because \u201cmeeting people is so natural\u201d it shouldn\u2019t rely on an algorithm.But in the meantime, after establishing a \u201cproper base\u201d in London, he is already planning to expand to different cities next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Would you pay \u00a320 a month for the chance of making a friend, on the understanding that an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-750113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gb","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}