“It was a Facebook group for women in the DMV making new friends. You post a picture of yourself and write a prompt with things you’re interested in. Originally, it was this really big dopamine fix, but then it became a little bit daunting with responding to everyone. Exchanging Instagrams was a little easier to navigate. She swiped up on my story and said, ‘Let’s do brunch.’ Once we had that in-person connection, it became a lot more seamless and effortless. We’ve been friends for a little over a year now.”
— ROMY, DC
“It was Gallery Place or Metro Center, but I saw this guy in an Arsenal jersey, and we had just had this big win. I said, ‘Come on, you gunners’ or ‘Up Arsenal.’ Our trains were taking a while, so he stopped and he’s like, ‘Wait, are you an Arsenal fan?’ I was like, ‘Of course, I love Arsenal.’ So we kind of quickly exchanged information, and we’ve kept connected through Instagram but also meeting in person for games. I know in DC as an adult it can be hard to branch out and make friends, but that’s the power of Arsenal, I guess.”
— SAMANTHA, DC
“I’ve met a few people through Facebook Marketplace. My wife and I tend to clear out our place a lot because we live in a one-bedroom. There was one guy, I sold him a 35-millimeter camera. He was new to the area, so he was keen to connect with other people interested in film photography. We had a ten-minute talk down at our lobby, going through the camera, but also my camera collection and what I’ve shot with in the past. We exchanged Instagrams and kept connected. We send memes here and there and photo-shoot inspo as well. During the spring, we met up to take photos of the cherry blossoms.”
— KELVIN, Arlington
This article appears in the October 2026 issue of Washingtonian.
