Hoop - Make new friends

Hoop, developed by Dazz, is a social discovery platform created to help teenagers and young adults build new friendships across popular social apps like Snapchat. While most social services use internal messaging systems to keep users inside their own platforms, Hoop works primarily as an introduction layer. The app uses a familiar card-swiping layout, but focuses entirely on platonic networking and sharing social handles. Users browse through member profiles, send connection requests, and, once mutually approved, exchange external social accounts to continue chatting off the platform.

Safety is a core structural focus of the platform. Because a large portion of its audience consists of teenagers, Hoop enforces strict age barriers separating minors (ages 13–17) from adult users (18 and older). Adults and minors are kept in separate, non-overlapping groups; they cannot view, search for, or interact with one another. For minor accounts, the app also uses progressive age brackets: a 13-year-old can only view profiles of 13- and 14-year-olds, while a 15-year-old only sees peers between 14 and 16. Furthermore, in-app text messaging is completely disabled for minor accounts, meaning connections are limited to handle exchanges. These features are supported by automated selfie verification, automated photo moderation, and broad country-level location settings that avoid collecting exact GPS data.

The app’s engagement loop is centered around an in-app Diamond currency. Sending friend requests requires spending diamonds. Users can collect diamonds through daily logins, sharing profile links, completing surveys, and viewing rewarded ads, or by purchasing diamond packs directly. This setup introduces intentional friction: users must be selective when browsing rather than sending bulk friend requests. With concise profile cards that emphasize pictures, short bios, and shared interests, Hoop acts as a simple bridge to external social networks.