Warner Bros. TelevisionThere is nothing like a good catch-up with a friend to stop you getting bogged down with the relentless nonsense of adult life.
Your Sisyphean to-do list may be rolling up and down all over the show, but all is hilarity and adventure after a shared procrastination pint.
Sadly, so many of us are struggling to squeeze in some magical, healing friend time, due to grimly predictable shortages of money and time.
Although six in ten of us admit social media and mobile phones make staying connected easy-peasy, face-to-face contact is a different – and more difficult – matter entirely…
NBCIndeed, one third of us just can’t find time to see our best buds’ beautiful non-screen faces, with reduced IRL meet-ups meaning nearly six in ten adults losing touch with a bestie.
One third of us feel long work hours get in the way of a proper in-the-flesh natter, while over one quarter say the priciness of modern life prevents them from travelling to see mates.
This is according to findings from MINI UK who are launching innovative, platonic matchmaking service ‘MINI Hatch Maker’ with expert matchmaker and psychologist Mark Coulson.
This poll of 2,000 adults discovered nearly nine in ten Brits want to build new friendships, with one in three interested in using a matchmaking service to expand their friendship circle.
Columbia PicturesKnowledgable Coulson has explained:
Our research data suggests that geographical separation is one of the contributing factors to why we are losing out on face-to-face time.
Time marches on, we are far more mobile than we used to be and consequently far less likely to end up living near each other.
Combine this with how easy technology has made it for us to see people without being physically present, and factor in the hectic pace of modern life, and it is no wonder we are lacking and therefore craving a little bit more one on one time with friends.
MINI Hatch Maker uses a variety of questions – cleverly designed by Coulson – to pair up well-suited pals. Those matched can test-drive their new friendship through sharing a personalised road-trip, shaped by shared passions and made possible by the MINI 5-door Hatch.
Six out of ten participants from the poll felt friendships had changed over the course of the last decade.
Over one third said they are now more likely to live further away from close friends than previously, creating further difficulties when planning regular face-to-face contact.
Coulson revealed:
Deciding if someone will be a friend for life or not, is not just a decision we consciously make.
The synchronisation of body language, patterns of eye contact, even how they smell, is just as important as the words that come out of their mouths.
Services like Hatch Maker are a great example of how we can use the power of science and technology in order to connect like-minded people, and increase quality face-to-face time by providing not just a match but a shared experience.
Paramount PicturesThis platonic friendship service sounds like a fabulous idea, and would potentially involve much less pouting and posing than the dating websites which have come to dominate our romantic lives.
Platonic friendships are way more important than fleeting, week-long flirtations, so why don’t we give them enough attention?
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.