Friending app launches to tackle US loneliness epidemic with in-person meetings | TNW

This article was published on March 25, 2026 A startup called Friending has launched a social platform built around a premise that sounds almost quaint in 2026: helping people make friends by meeting in person. The app, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, connects users by shared interests and geographic proximity, then deliberately limits chat functionality to push them toward face-to-face meetings rather than prolonged online conversations. Every user is verified through a third-party identity service, and the platform can confirm when two users’ phones are physically near each other, a feature designed to validate that meetings actually happen. The timing is deliberate. In 2023, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an 82-page advisory declaring loneliness and social isolation a public health epidemic, finding that lacking social connection carries health risks comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day. Social isolation increases the risk of premature death by 29 per cent, heart disease by 29 per cent, and stroke by 32 per cent. Among older adults, chronic loneliness raises the risk of dementia by approximately 50 per cent. Half of American adults reported experiencing lo