How to find friends online in India, safely

To find friends online as an adult in India, join something you'd enjoy anyway: an interest community, a volunteer group, a class or a language circle. It's far easier to become friends with people you keep running into around a shared activity than with a stranger you matched with once. Go slowly, keep personal details back until trust is earned, and be wary of anyone who rushes you onto video or asks for money.

Why is it hard to make friends as an adult?

School and college hand you friends: the same faces every day, and built-in reasons to talk. After that, you have to create those conditions yourself. A move to a new city for work, friends who've married or moved away, long hours and longer commutes can all shrink your circle without you noticing.

If that sounds familiar, you're far from alone. The WHO's Commission on Social Connection found that between 17% and 21% of people aged 13 to 29 reported feeling lonely.

Where can you find friends online as an adult?

Interest communities

Look for groups built around something you'd do anyway: a running club, a book club, a board-game night, a trekking group, a fan group for a team or a show. Groups that also meet in your city make the jump from chat to real friendship easier.

Volunteering

Look for causes that take online volunteers for tutoring, translation, design or fundraising. Working on something together shows you how people behave when it matters, and there's always something to talk about.

Classes and courses

Live online classes, cohort-based courses and workshops work best when they include group work or a discussion group. A shared deadline gives you a reason to message someone without it feeling forced.

Language groups

Moved to Bengaluru and want to learn Kannada? Want to practise your English, or pick up Japanese? Language exchanges are built on conversation, which makes them a natural place to meet people. Choose group sessions over one-to-one video calls with someone you've just met.

People you've lost touch with

Alumni groups and old colleagues count too. A message like "Saw your trek photos, would love to hear how it went" is low-risk, and it can restart a friendship you'd assumed was over.

Online dost kaise banaen? Seven steps

1. Pick one interest and one group. Turning up again and again in one place does more than dipping into ten.
2. Join in before you reach out. Reply to posts, turn up to calls, be useful. Let people get used to your name.
3. Go from group to small group to one-to-one. Suggest a smaller chat with two or three people you click with, and only then a one-to-one.
4. Text, then voice, then video. Move up only when you know who someone is, and don't take video calls from unknown numbers.
5. Meet in public, with a plan. Daytime, a busy place, a friend who knows where you are, and your own way there and back.
6. Keep money out of it. Don't lend, borrow, invest or send gifts to someone you know only online.
7. Give it time. Friendships take months, not days. If someone wants to be your best friend within a week, slow down.

How can you tell if an online friend is genuine?

Signs a profile may be fake

• The account is new, has few posts, or has no mutual connections despite claiming to be from your city or college.
• The photos look professionally shot, and there's always a reason they can't do a voice call.
• Details shift over time: their job, their city, their age, why they can't meet.
• They never join group activities; they only want you one-to-one.
• Their interests match yours a little too perfectly, and most of what they say is flattery.

Signs it's turning into a scam

Watch for money in any form (a loan, a medical emergency, a "sure-shot" investment, a part-time task job), requests for intimate photos, a push to keep things secret, or a rush to move you onto another app. Any one of these is reason enough to stop. For warning signs that show up inside a chat, see how to talk to strangers online safely.

Green flags

• They're the same person in group chats and one-to-one.
• They're happy to go slowly and to meet in a group first.
• They accept a "no" the first time.
• Other people in the community know them.
• They never ask you for money.

What about "dost banane wala" apps?

Search for a "dost banane wala app" and you'll find some apps where conversation is tied to spending. On live-streaming "friendship" apps such as Tango and Chamet, users buy coins and send virtual gifts to hosts. A public-interest petition in the Delhi High Court has named several of these apps; its allegations haven't been tested in court. One app it named, ShareChat's Vibely, had been removed from Apple's App Store under Apple's rule on random and anonymous chat, MediaNama reported on 2 June 2026.

Paying someone to keep talking to you isn't friendship, and it's easy to spend more than you meant to. If you use such apps, set a monthly limit and treat it as entertainment. For how FRND and Dostt compare with Loret, see our side-by-side comparison.

How do you avoid video-call blackmail?

In January 2024, Kerala Police warned that scammers record video calls to blackmail people, and advised people not to answer video calls from unknown numbers. The same caution applies to someone you've only met online.

Before any call:

• Don't answer video calls from numbers or accounts you don't know.
• Keep early video calls short, and in a group if you can.
• Don't do anything on camera you wouldn't want screenshotted.
• If the other person's camera shows something explicit, end the call at once.

If it has already happened:

1. Don't pay. Paying doesn't guarantee the recording is deleted.
2. Don't delete anything. Save the chat, the number or profile, and any payment details they sent.
3. Report it to the National Cyber Crime Helpline on 1930 or at cybercrime.gov.in.
4. Block them only after you've saved the evidence.
5. Tell one person you trust. Blackmail depends on shame and silence, and you're the one who has been wronged.

Is Loret a friendship app?

No, and it's worth being clear about that. Loret is for conversations with approved listeners and qualified counsellors, by chat, voice or video, paid per minute. It isn't a friend-finding app or a dating app.

Where it can help is in the meantime. Building a circle takes months, and some evenings in between are lonely. If you need someone to talk to, you can look through listeners' profiles before you sign in. To a listener you're just the display name you pick, and the first ₹50 of credit is free for new accounts. Beyond that it's paid, and a listener is not a therapist; everyday emotional support is what Loret's listeners are there for.

If you're the friend everyone calls when things go wrong, you could also apply to become a listener.

If loneliness has turned into hopelessness, or you're thinking about hurting yourself, call Tele-MANAS on 14416 or 1800-89-14416 (free, 24 hours) or, if you're in immediate danger, 112.

Tango, Chamet, ShareChat, Vibely, FRND and Dostt are trademarks of their respective owners. Loret isn't affiliated with them. Details were checked on 29 October 2026 and may have changed.