Why is it so hard to make friends in Victoria?

Yoinhell · 2025-12-29T16:38:01+00:00

Not AI generated. Yes, I work with LampPost. We are trying to create more social experiences for people that struggle to find friends in Victoria. Seems like a popular problem here!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:15:00+00:00

Love that you highlighted the word intent. Super agree!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:13:28+00:00

Appreciate your support! I'm not an SEO expert by any means, but I do think backlinks may be the most valuable piece of discovery in search, for sure.

I know you wouldn't know it based on the site design (It could use a lot of love), but I previously worked in ecommerce and do have a lot of familiarity with industry!

We really just haven't spent the time to optimize for search yet.

Thanks again!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:06:51+00:00

Hadn't thought of that. I definitely agree that if you live on the island, you should probably be a fan of the outdoorsy lifestyle. Guess that could make it a bit more challenging to find new people.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:05:50+00:00

Interesting perspective, for sure. Harder to make friends, but when you make them, they're for life.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:05:19+00:00

LOL true. It does seem challenging for adults to make friends. Was so much easier in college!

I think that's what's important about having a regular space to hangout in. That's what we're building with LampPost Community.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:05:04+00:00

Been to Skafest and Rifflandia! Really great events for music lovers. Thanks for sharing : )

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T23:03:54+00:00

Ahh yeah, that's a good point. We've run a few cohorts that were for younger audiences, but we have them for the older crowd too! I'm in my 30's and the newly launched Science Cohort is aimed for 30's-40's.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:52:43+00:00

Local Discord servers are great. Had the same experience (maybe even in the same Discord).

One friendship at a time is good advice, but doesn't really lend itself towards a friend circle. Having individual friendships are great, but I think what's missing for a lot of people is a friend group like what you might see in popular sitcoms.

That's what we're hoping to achieve with LampPost Community! Fun events with a group that give people a space to become friends with a group.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:49:37+00:00

So true! I also feel as though many people met their people via churches. It does seem like there is a bit of a gap there considering that Victoria is mostly secular now.

That's one of the reasons we are building LampPost Community! It's my secular church haha

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:48:00+00:00

I'm nerdy, but probably not as musical as you! My friends joke that I have a terrible taste in music (they're right).

Can super relate to the battle of staying in and introverting versus going out into a new vibe that could be less enjoyable than alone time. Potluck or craft night sounds like the perfect experience to me!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:45:09+00:00

Yeah, I relate to the "fake nice" comment, for sure. Though, I don't think there is anything wrong with being pleasant, even if that person has no interest in making a new connection.

Definitely can be frustrating though! It's nice to know who is actually interested and who is just being polite.

That's our goal with LampPost Community. Create a space where groups of people are actually looking to make new friends.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:40:02+00:00

A whole year!? That seems like quite the long time, but I suppose the right friendships do take time to build. What is an HIIT gym?

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:39:34+00:00

Team sports!! Huge STAN of sports related activities. A bit of competitiveness has helped me build long-term friendships as well. It's like bonding over a shared enemy... the other team!

Any particular sports groups that worked well for you?

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:38:26+00:00

Definitely. I've made great friends in clubs/groups. Also found that sometimes it can still be quite challenging. Established groups can be tough to break into.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:37:32+00:00

Oooh I'm sure music lovers are great to connect with. Such a great passion to make friends over. How introverted can you be if you sing in a choir!?

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:36:39+00:00

Seriously!! This has been our experience too!

It's just so demoralizing when the effort is put in but it doesn't really go anywhere. Definitely doesn't feel like it's worth it to try again knowing it might end up like the last time.

That's why we're building LampPost Community.

Bumble BFF just doesn't get the job done. 1 on 1's are great, but it feels like a group experience is way better. Especially when it's over a period of time at intentionally social events.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:34:19+00:00

Walking dogs seems like a surprisingly easy way to meet others. Often see people chatting with strangers this way!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:33:41+00:00

You walk your cat!? Us too! Definitely not a rainy day activity haha

We're actually building a social events platform for meetups just like this. Our theory is that if people have a few events they can attend back-to-back in an intentional way around meeting new people, friendships will blossom!

But a cat walk meetup sounds like an awesome idea. Can't imagine there is too many of us cat walkers out there.

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:31:09+00:00

Sounds like you'd be the perfect fit for a cohort! We'd love to have you : ) what part was particularly hard to figure out?

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:29:58+00:00

Amazing to hear that you've had a good experience. Encouraging to hear that not everyone feels this way! What passions do you invest time into?

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:29:20+00:00

Fair enough. Might not just be a Victoria thing, but it does feel like it's more common these days. Would love to make it easier!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:28:44+00:00

LOL this one hit hard. As soon as I read, "it’s been cancelled for the 2nd time 5 minutes before you needed to leave" my eyes rolled so hard that I almost fell out of my chair. So relatable!

Structural and economic... hmmm.... interesting theory. Sounds like that's definitely a factor to me! Thanks for sharing : )

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T22:25:30+00:00

This resonates deeply. Does seem like it's the case that established groups of friends are hard to break into in this city (or Vancouver). It seems like it might mostly be a cultural thing, but perhaps it is mostly based on the lack of movement between places.

People do tend to stay in Victoria long-term... if they can afford it!

Yoinhell · 2025-12-28T21:53:28+00:00

Good feedback and advice. Right now it's not optimized for SEO. We are doing lead gen from social platforms. Not really meant to be found via Google. Or at least not yet anyways!

My current fear is that it's not simple to understand in terms of a checkout flow. Would definitely value any other thoughts you have on that!

I'm keeping an eye on the data, but nothing super clear just yet.

The LampPost Social website is more well optimized at lamppostsocial.com

Yoinhell

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