KOKOMO, Ind. — A Kokomo man has created a new way for Hoosiers to find new friends.
Chaun Farmer said a birthday party gone awry left him and his fiancée in search of new friends. That's when he turned to his web design hobby to create "Hoosier Club" - a website to help people meet.
It's similar to a dating site, letting you match with people based on shared interest, though the site adheres to a "no dating" rule. Users who are seeking out romantic partners through the site could potentially be banned.
“If you’ve got a bunch of people going after other people, they're not going to want to use it,” Farmer told our partners at the Kokomo Tribune.
Users can match with others by checking out the interests listed on their profiles. Users get a notification if they are "added" by another user and can then decide if they want to be friends. If they match, the users can then send messages back and forth and potentially set up an in-person meeting.
There are currently more than 200 users on the site, Farmer said, and you can even filter potential matches by distance, to keep your friendships closer to home.
“Personally, I don't want to talk to anyone farther than an hour away,” Farmer told the Tribune. “I can drive an hour to hangout with someone, but any more than that is kind of a hassle.”
The website, one of 20 Farmer is currently running, is free to use, and its creator said he doesn't expect to make a profit from it, he just wanted to make something fun that could help others.
“The goal is to create, I guess, just the ultimate friend finder for Indiana,” Farmer said of Hoosier Club. “I need friends and I found out a lot of other people need friends.”