Event ticket apps vs make-friends apps: what's the difference?
A ticket gets you into the room. The people you meet there are what make you come back. That's the difference between selling events and making friends.
- Ticket apps sell seats at concerts, shows and workshops. They're great for the event, not the people.
- You can go to ten events and still come home without a single new friend.
- A make-friends app starts with people: you meet, talk, and decide together where to go.
- Best of both: find your group first, then go to the event together.
Open any ticketing app in your city and you'll find hundreds of things to do this weekend: concerts, comedy shows, workshops, festivals, food events. That's great. But here's a question: how many friends did you make at the last event you went to?
For most of us, the answer is zero. We go, we watch, we leave. That's the gap between selling tickets and making friends.
What ticket apps do well
Event and ticketing apps are built to sell seats. They're very good at it:
- They list events city by city.
- They help organisers sell tickets.
- They tell you what's on this weekend.
If you already have a group of friends, they're perfect. You pick a show, buy four tickets, and go.
What they don't do
But ticket apps don't help with the hardest part: who do I go with?
If you're new to a city, or your friends are busy, a list of events doesn't solve anything. You end up at a concert alone, standing in a crowd of strangers who all came with their own groups. Nobody talks. You leave the way you came.
A ticket gets you into the room. It doesn't give you people.
What a make-friends app does differently
A make-friends app starts from the other side: the people.
On BeSocialz:
- You see who's around. People near you post plans in the Feed: "Anyone up for a trek this Sunday?" "Going to a comedy show Friday, who's in?"
- You talk first. You comment, ask questions, get a feel for the group.
- You decide together. The group picks the plan: a café, a trek, a game night, or yes, an event.
- You go together. You don't walk in alone. You walk in with people you've already met online.
- You keep meeting. Through clubs, the same group meets again. That's where friendships form.
The event is just the excuse. The people are the point.
Side by side
| Event ticket apps | Make-friends apps like BeSocialz | |
|---|---|---|
| What they sell | A seat at an event | A way to meet people |
| Where you start | The event | The people |
| Who you go with | Whoever you already know | People you meet in the app |
| What happens after | You go home | You plan the next meetup |
| Best for | People who already have a group | People who want a group |
Use both, in the right order
This isn't either-or. The smartest way to go out in a new city is:
- Find your people first on a make-friends app.
- Decide together what to do.
- Then buy the tickets for the event you all want to go to.
An event with friends is ten times better than an event alone. And the friends stay long after the event ends.
Why this matters
Cities are full of things to do and full of lonely people at the same time. More events won't fix that. More ways to meet people in small groups will.
That's what BeSocialz is for: connecting people offline, so every plan is something you do with someone.
How BeSocialz solves this
BeSocialz starts with people, then the plan:
- Feed: see who's around and what they want to do.
- Hangouts: a small table of strangers you meet before the big event.
- Meetups: plans with people, free or ticketed, where the point is meeting each other.
- Clubs: the same group keeps going out together, event after event.
You don't just get a ticket. You get people to go with.
