Being a mom is a full-time job. With all of the duties of running a household, holding down a job or two and tending to the kids, who has time to socialize?
A hot new app—Peanut–understands the plight of busy moms and has created a hookup app just for you!
The Hook Up
It’s not what you think.
Peanut is an app that hooks up mothers with other moms in their area. It has been described as a platonic Tender App for moms. Like most common dating apps, moms download the free app, build a profile and select up to three categories to describe themselves. Then they find matches near them that have similar interests.
The whole premise behind the app is to help busy moms connect with other like-minded moms. It helps eliminate the amount of time, energy and social awkwardness that comes with trying to establish and maintain friendships while confronting the joys and woes of motherhood.
How it all began
Michelle Kennedy came to the conclusion that single moms needed some high-tech help with their social life after she became a mom.
“When I became a mom and was looking to [socialize], everything felt very old school. All of a sudden online forums were my only option,” Kennedy told NBC News. “I thought, ‘I am not the only woman of my generation who has a child and wants to use a cool, sleek, modern product to meet other moms.”
Kennedy quit her job and developed the app. She named it “Peanut” as a tribute to the unborn child she was carrying—whom she affectionately referred to as her “little peanut.”
But it wasn’t money or a cool and hip platform that motivated Kennedy to create the app. She was also looking for a way to remedy a problem of her own: the isolation, loneliness and loss of identity that often plagues new moms. She found herself struggling to establish relationships with people she could identify with and that could understand her world.
“When I had my little boy three and a half years ago, it was an amazing experience as I was taught it would be — but I also found it to be isolating and lonely, which is something we don’t often talk about,” said Kennedy. “It was also boring, something I really didn’t expect. But when they’re tiny, they don’t do much apart from feed and sleep. I had a moment where I forgot what it was to be me.”
More to come
Kennedy and her small team of five are feverishly working on upgrading the app and making it available for Android users (currently only available for Apple users). She is also working to find a way to remove the ads from the app and still generate revenue.
The app currently isn’t earning any money but Kennedy is committed to the cause. She has been overwhelmed with feedback and is working on adding new bells and whistles to the app. Currently, the team is working on adding new categories of interest. Recently she added, “special needs” and “single mama” to the list of categories. Soon, moms will also be able to identify as and connect with other stepmothers, adoptive mothers, and mothers of “multiples.”
The ability to narrow down the choices of the type of mom you want to hook up with is the most valuable attribute of this app. To simply pair moms with other moms, even if they live in the same neighborhood and have kids the same age, isn’t enough to spark a lasting friendship.
Since going live, the site has seen nearly 8.5 million profile views and swipes, and 400,000 messages sent between users.