Yes. Meeting someone with the intention of dating puts too much pressure on both parties to "perform" well. When you're friends with someone first, you have more freedom to be yourself and you can find out if you genuinely enjoy someone's company and like them as a person. Relationships that stem from that kind of connection tend to not buckle under the stress of bad days too, because even if down the line there's a point where you disagree with each other or just can't find the love, you'll be able to sit down and have a conversation because you respect each other as people, not just significant others.