Inspiration
In the last two months of his senior year at Columbia, my friend Tanay launched Tea with Tanay, inspired by Tea with Strangers. He had conversations with dozens of strangers and acquaintances over tea. At a school where there isn't a lot of community, that was unprecedented, and I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if everyone at Columbia could meet people this way?" I built No New Friends on the idea that people can have big/fun/deep/interesting/light conversations with strangers if they aren't afraid to put themselves out there.
How It Works
You can register with your name, email, phone, major, and interests. By connecting your Facebook, you add a profile picture and link. Then, you can view anyone on the app and message them if you want to meet them. They'll get an email with your name, interests, and phone number, and you can find a time to grab coffee!
In the near, near future, there will be search and individualized URLs for user profiles. I'm also considering using the Twilio API to send texts instead of emails when you message someone.
What I Learned
No New Friends is the first app I've built on my own, and I learned a LOT. Everything from user registration/login to database management to using the Facebook Graph API. I also grew more comfortable using Flask and scaling it for use in a larger app.
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