Crookwell resident Sarah Sternberg was finding it tough to cope during the lockdown period during the pandemic.
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It was a hard and stressful time for her as she could not step out of her house and was concerned about the wellbeing of her older relatives.
During that time, the 20-year-old came across the Yubo app that helped her meet new people and form unexpected friendships.
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"I met my good friend Paisley during that period and hope to meet her in person one day," she said.
"Living in a regional town in NSW can be isolating, so it has been incredible to find a digital community where everyone can feel connected and form genuine friendships regardless of where they are in the world. I'm hoping to move to Queensland later this year, and Paisley and I are looking forward to meeting in person."
Yubo app provides a platform for young people to socialise online. It is different from other apps as it does not have influencers or likes and has a mission to abolish social media 'followers'.
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Sacha Lazimi, CEO and founder of Yubo said that one of Yubo's goals is to combat loneliness among teenagers and young adults by enabling them to meet new people online and make friends.
"I read that people with more than 200 followers are more likely to say they felt pressure about the way they look than those with fewer followers," he said.
"This resonated with me, So, unlike other social media apps, Yubo is urging our users to not be a follower and instead socialise online in an authentic way and create genuine online interactions without the pressure of how many followers they have. Be a friend, not a follower."
The app was launched in 2015 and has over 40 million users across 40 countries.
