Jun 9, 2015 2:15 PM EDT

NYC (MainStreet) — final summer, the buzz had been all about the Florida-based your retirement community with mid-morning happy hours, a black market in Viagra and free-loving moving seniors. The rowdy retirees associated with Villages had been pictured within their tennis carts swilling low priced booze — all grins and happy times.

Unfortuitously, the reality for a lot of older Americans is significantly different. With kiddies spread and few buddies staying, loneliness could be an important psychological — and real — wellness concern. A site that is new that it’s arriving at the rescue, assisting those 50 and over uncover new friends, travel companions, roommates and “activity” buddies.

Boomerly launched simply a week ago, claiming people from about the planet, therefore the free solution is designed to link users with individuals that are like them, “no matter where they live.”

Margaret Manning, the creator of SixtyandMe.com, a weblog community of “over 100,000 Baby Boomer females,” created the matchmaking that is new after conducting an internet study of 2,000 seniors. The participants unveiled their applying for grants relationship and closeness after 50.

“Our generation is suffering divorce or separation, forced your retirement, changing family members circumstances and an identified not enough function,” Manning said in a news release announcing the solution. “As the social ties that we relied on in past times fade, we truly need an alternative way to construct significant friendships.”

A user defined as Angela Dobson posted her enthusiastic support for the new website and explained her good reasons for signing up..

“I need to get free from my safe place and speak to and satisfy people who have comparable passions,” she stated. “as opposed to simply things that are thinking alter without me personally placing any effort involved with it. I might want to earn some friends that are good and here’s hoping through Boomerly this might be now feasible.”

But Boomerly isn’t the only site hoping to spark friendships for those of you over 50. A similar solution joined the senior social scene slightly below this past year. Stitch, situated in Sydney, was released by Australian business owner Andrew Dowling and san francisco bay area technology startup creator Marcie Rogo. With 11,000 users, issue must be expected: Is Stitch more Match.com — or Tinder?

“It is probably perhaps not better to either,” Rogo informs TheStreet. “It really is the distance that is same both.”

“The functionality of this website and just how it will make efficient connections that are one-to-one a lot more like Tinder,” she adds. “You can not get any messages that are unsolicited. You’ll just communicate whenever you both have actually stated, ‘I’m interested.’ [But] in terms of our standards that are moral our brand name, i do believe we are further far from Tinder than Match.”

Stitch presently provides connections that are local users within the bay area Bay area, this new York tri-state area and Sydney, Australia, with l . a . along with other metropolitan areas just around the corner, she claims.

“It’s clear there was clearly a need that is deep a way to get in touch during this period in life — within the post-reproduction phase, when you are done having kiddies, or perhaps you’ve made a decision to retire, with every possibility close at hand,” Rogo says. “And yourself flying solo and you’re in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s — usually you’d really like someone to share these new experiences with, whether that’s travel, taking up a new hobby [or] picking up a class if you find. And there is practically nothing available to you that respectfully and properly links like-minded people around the items they love.”

Therefore, exactly how much associated with ongoing solution is approximately companionship — or love?

“we think it’s 100% about companionship,” Rogo states, though love may come later on. Rogo adds it really is about “starting as buddies and maybe one thing more occurring — love is an alternative it is possible to select.”