“Happiness is, when you make unexpected new friends.”
Before I met my husband, Bobby, I spent most of my time at my workplace and free time at home on my couch creating new content for my blog and business. In other words, I wasn’t going out and meeting new people at all. So I was single for a while.
My friends decided that enough was enough and eventually, dragged me out of my cave, into the sunlight by inviting me to several parties every week.
On Halloween, I finally succumbed to the “peer pressure” and attended a Halloween cocktail party and there I met the love of my life, Bobby. The rest is history.
Thank you, friends. 🙂
But what are the odds? I think my social circle actually shrunk tenfold after I left school. With our crazy “adulthood schedules” now, I reckon you have to be a real social butterfly to meet tons of new people everyday. What happens if you’re the social cocoon who can never run out of things to say to your close friends but can barely strike a conversation with people you just met?
Don’t fret, it’s 2016 and the dating game is vastly different now, thanks to technology.
If I did time travel back to five years ago when I was single, the thought of meeting my soulmate through an online site or app would seem pretty implausible. Maybe even hover close to the being creepy line. Haha!
My single friends are telling me they are successfully meeting new people through dating apps that match them to people they like and find attractive. Please allow me to be more precise (and blunt), physically attractive to be exact. It’s pretty obvious that the downside of this is that it can get pretty superficial and you can end up dating “the wrong one”.
The good news is, recently I was introduced to a new dating app called Happn that allows you to find the people you’ve crossed paths with in real life!
Now imagine this – you just met this new guy at the gas station and you guys hit it off right away.
Then you leave the premises with butterflies in your stomach all excited about this happy encounter…
… and boom! You realize you forgot to exchange contacts.
Great. Now what do you do. 🙁
Use Happn!
Happn is the dating app that gives you that precious and inconceivable second chance after you missed the first one! Haha!
Its key purpose is to help you discover and contact the people you have crossed paths with and would like to find again. The app is geolocated and uses real-time. This means every time you cross paths with another member, their profile will appear on your app.
It’s really easy to sign up. All you have to download the app from App Store, Play Store or Windows Store, then sign in with your Facebook account and you can embark on this exciting friendship journey in a jiffy!
Next, allow Happn to access your location and you’re on your way to connecting with the people you just met!
When you cross paths with that special someone, you can like them with the heart icon as shown below. Don’t worry, you won’t look creepy as they’ll never find out unless they reciprocate with a heart too! And when that happens, you can happy dance because you can now start a conversation!
You may also send a Charm to let them know you’re interested! A Charm sends the other person a notification. If you both like each other, you can start a conversation too!
Yay! I found the guy at the gas station!
What I love about the app is not only can you chat with the other Happner (Come on! Which dating app can’t let you do that?), but it also allows you guys to connect on a deeper level by sharing your favorite tunes through Spotify! Now that’s something.
So is the app free I hear you ask?
The app is available on a freemium basis. This means you can download and use some of the features for free. Liking profiles and having conversations are free. A premium is charged when you want to send a Charm. Each Charm is worth one credit. A virtual store is available directly on the app or you can earn credits by referring friends to the app.
I know there might still be some security concerns lingering at the back of your mind. What if the other party is a weirdo or starts stalking you?
Here are some measures Happn has rolled out to mitigate those “creeps”,
The location of a user remains completely invisible to the other users, as only the location of where you have passed each other is saved.
You can block another user or report any unwanted behaviour at any time.
Facebook Connect is used only to show common friends and interests, and to prevent fake profiles.
Happn will never post anything on the Facebook walls of its members without their approval.
The concept of reciprocity guarantees an app experience without any spamming or harassment.
All in all…
Aristotle said “Man is by nature a social animal” but it’s never easy putting ourselves out there. The fear of embarrassing face-to-face rejections usually outweighs any intense desire to start a conversation with someone you like. So I think this is an amazing app to begin your exciting dating journey with.
Forget about the traditional stigmas about online dating. There are no real protocols as to how you should date. Happn gives us a second chance, the chance to discover and to meet that person that has caught your eye, and to avoid all those missed connections.
When everything goes well and falls into place, this will surely become one hell of a modern day fairytale to tell your grandkids.
Seize everyday coincidences and take advantage of paths crossed in real life.
Download the Happn App here – happn.com
Your friend, Juliana