Telescope: Find Friends in Telegram

Telegram has millions of people, but finding the ones you would enjoy talking to is hard. Telescope offers a simple deal: a profile with your interests and a shared directory where others can find you and you can find them. 🔭

It is a Mini App that opens inside Telegram. Its tagline is short: find friends in the messenger.

What your profile card holds

You build a profile card. It usually carries three things:

• Photo. People recognize you by it and decide whether to write.
• Description. A couple of lines on who you are and what you look for.
• Interest tags. People with similar hobbies find you through them.

The more specific the tags, the better the matches. A tag like "movies" gathers thousands of people, while "black and white films of the 60s" filters out the random ones.

Searching by interests

Once your card exists, you join a shared database of profiles. You can browse, search by interest and message people you like. 👋

The app has passed one and a half million users and shows about 1.3 million monthly active users on Telegram. For finding like-minded people, that means plenty of options.

An opener that gets a reply

Profiles in directories like this get a lot of identical "hi, how are you" messages. To stand out, write with a purpose.

1. Read the person's description in full.
2. Pick a shared interest from their tags.
3. Ask one specific question about exactly that.
4. Keep the first message short.

Do not take silence personally. People visit directories now and then.

Caution first

A public profile means strangers can see it. A photo and description can be saved, copied or misused. ⚠️

Critical reviews of this app exist online, some accusing it of fraud. We do not claim they are right, but they are a reason to stay careful:

• Never send money to new contacts or buy "access" because someone asked you to.
• Keep private your address, workplace and documents.
• Skip links from strangers. They are often phishing.
• Check any paid feature on the payment screen itself, not through stories from other people.

If a public directory is not for you

Telegram has other ways to meet people: groups and chats built around interests, where a conversation starts more naturally than through a profile. 💬

Such chats do not ask for a photo and suit anyone who is not ready for a public profile. Try both routes and keep the one that feels better.