New app to help women find their BFF

09 February 2016 - 02:23 By Leonie Wagner

Finding a BFF (best friend forever) is just a swipe away with a new app for women."Hey! Vina" helps women find and make female friends. Potential users sign up with their Facebook account, which is used to verify gender and find people they know.Then there's a quiz that identifies people you are compatible with. The user can then anonymously swipe to indicate whom she wants to meet right now. Just like Tinder.Johannesburg clinical psychologist Annemarie Novello said this type of friendship app was relevant because people "are becoming socially isolated".Novello said the traditional ways of forming friendships were changing as people work longer hours."It has become harder for people to find places in which to connect. With the number of people emigrating and moving to cities, people are losing their childhood friends."The opportunities for adults to make friends are declining because people work different hours."Those who usually made friends with other parents aren't any more, and others aren't having children."The app was developed by Olivia June Poole and Jen Aprahamian to bring women together.Poole told Huffington Post the app's goal was "to drive a philosophy of community over competition among women"."We hope women everywhere will use the app to find the freedom and confidence that comes from having a strong community of friends supporting you."Women have a greater need for friends ... it's also important for some women to spend time with other women."This is where they can relax and get intimate emotional stuff that they can't talk to their man about," Novello said.The app was launched earlier this year and is available on devices running iOS...

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