Think Tinder, but for friends. Klique is a new app designed to make the experience of meeting new friends safer for everyone involved.

The app was created by a Miami-based team and went live in September.

Klique allows users to form a group with their current friends and connects them to other groups of friends in their area. Users sign up through Facebook, which gives the app basic information like their name and age. They can then form groups through the app with friends they already know in person, and connect with other groups by swiping left and right on profiles. The app encourages everyone in each group to meet together and to leave together so that no one feels unsafe.

Though it functions a lot like Tinder, Klique is an app used strictly for meeting new friends, not dating.

Paolo Ramos, an account executive for Klique, wrote via email that there is also a social rating system within the app so that users can exercise more caution before joining new groups.

The rating system is similar to Uber’s, in which users and drivers mutually rate each other upon ride completion.

“The app creates safety in numbers and emphasizes the idea that if you go out with your klique, you come back with your klique,” wrote Matt Crown, CEO of Klique, via email. “It’s about looking out for each other, while still enjoying the experience of meeting new people, which is part of what college is all about.”

With sexual assault so prevalent on college campuses, many students wish to meet new people but do not feel comfortable doing so alone.

“Going out with a group of people you know will make the environment safer because these people are familiar with how you act and your body language, so they may be able to assess that their friend feels threatened and that they should intervene if something seems off before a situation escalates to where sexual assault can occur,” said Kristyn Krajewski, junior in LAS and FYCARE facilitator.

According to Crown, Klique has partnered with the It’s On Us campaign to pledge and encourage users to step in and stop dangerous situations from occurring through bystander intervention.

It’s On Us is a White House campaign that aims to foster awareness and decrease the likelihood of sexual assault on college campuses nationwide.

Klique and It’s On Us are working together to plan events that create a safe space to socialize.

“Through campus-wide efforts, Klique will work with It’s On Us to engage students across the country to begin and maintain discussions about consent and bystander intervention, as well as work to create an environment to support survivors,” Ramos wrote in an email. “Events will be intertwined into orientation education programs, with the ultimate goal of evolving consent and bystander intervention education into a set standard for students nationwide.”

Samantha Awad, committee chair of the It’s On Us task force at the University, said they do not have anything planned with Klique or any other activities for the rest of this semester, but they will most likely start back up again in January.

While the app is meant to create a safe space for socialization, Krajewski warns users to always exercise caution when meeting new people.

“It is important to realize that it is never the bystander’s fault (whether they intervene or not) or the survivor’s fault (whether they choose to meet up with someone off an app alone or in a group of people) that a sexual assault occurs,” Krajewski wrote. “The blame is always on the perpetrator.”

[email protected]om