Invites in Abu Dhabi: How one woman is turning strangers into friends through an app

Abu Dhabi: When Elaine Bayona's mother left Abu Dhabi a few months ago, the city suddenly felt very quiet. Her father and sister had already returned back to the Philippines and Canada after visiting.

"I was just like, I don't want to be alone," Elaine said.

That feeling became @InvitesInAbuDhabi, an Instagram-based community with over almost 800 followers, that brings women together for pickleball, makeup sessions, fitness walks and more. It now has its own app, with 47 events listed on it, and a growing circle of women who show up for one another.

A city she already knew

Elaine, 31, is originally from the Philippines and lives in Al Rawdah in the capital. She has lived in Abu Dhabi for seven years, since 2019, but her connection to the city goes back further. Her mother had been working in the UAE for about 20 years, and Elaine spent much of her high school and college years coming "back and forth" to visit.

"I am just familiar with Abu Dhabi," she said. After graduating, she made up her mind. "I was just like, okay, I'm ready to go here and get a job."

The decision was partly practical. Life in the Philippines, she said, is harder to manage day to day, and she did not think she would find the same work-life balance there.

"My life would be easier here and more practical," she said, pointing to the difficulty of commuting back home.

Having family nearby helped, but it did not solve everything.

"Of course, it is hard as an expat to go anywhere in the world and have no friends," she said.

The dance class that changed everything

Her answer came by accident. In 2019, Elaine walked into a random hip hop class, part of a dance workshop that has since closed. She had not gone looking for a social circle. She had simply gone to dance.

"That is where, back in 2019, I found my friends," she said. "My group."

The friendships outlasted the workshop itself. The lesson of that first class, that a single shared activity can turn strangers into friends, would shape everything she built next.

In the meantime, life was ordinary, as she worked in an admin job.

From cafe to content creation

That changed in 2024, when Elaine began making social media content. She started visiting cafes and restaurants and reviewing them online. Some of her videos earned recognition on TikTok.

Her friends from the dance class were her first models, appearing in the content she made. But she wanted to reach further. So, she began messaging other Abu Dhabi creators on Instagram, often ones whose work she already followed and regularly commented on.

"I was just like, hey, do you want to go to my collab in one restaurant? And she was like, yeah, okay," she recalled. "And then we got connected, and then it became bigger to other content creators."

Before long she was part of a network of local creators. It was a network built on cold messages, a habit she would later turn into a philosophy.

When her mother left

Then her mother left Abu Dhabi. With her father and sister already gone, Elaine was suddenly the only one of her family in the city.

"I was like, okay, I'm alone all over again," she said.

She turned the feeling into a plan. "Why not create something bigger? Invite random girls here in Abu Dhabi who also want to maybe be a model, or just join me." What started as an Instagram account for her own collaborations became a way to meet people.

She named it Invites in Abu Dhabi, a name that reflects how she sees herself. "I also am a big invite girl," she says. "I want to invite you. I want to invite other people."

15 girls and a thread

The first invite did not come from Instagram. In June, as Abu Dhabi hosted a programme of summer sports, Elaine posted on Threads inviting girls to a pickleball session.

She had no idea whether anyone would respond. Fifteen women showed up.

She had met none of them before, apart from two women she had followed on Instagram for a long time without ever meeting in person. The rest were complete strangers.

"I did not know that a lot of people were also interested," she said. The turnout thrilled her. "It is really, really exciting, because it is so fun to get to know other people and make more connections."

She admits that with so many people, she could not get to know most of them on a deeper level. But every new face counted. "At least someone new. Something refreshing."

Makeup, colour walks and a growing calendar

What began as one pickleball session in June has grown to 47 events listed on the app. Most of that first group of attendees came back for the next gatherings, and the events kept coming.

One recent session was a bring-your-own-makeup meetup at a cafe. A member of the community, who wanted to share what she knows, led it, teaching the group while everyone worked on their own looks.

It is Elaine's favourite event so far. "A lot of people were creating, doing their own makeup, and other people were helping other people do their makeup," she said. "It was really cool." Some of the women were new to her, and others she had met at earlier meetups.

It was also among the biggest. Elaine puts the largest turnout so far at roughly 15 to 20 women, and many of those who came asked when the next session would be. The host wanted to run a second one, giving priority to the women who missed the first.

There have been other formats. One was a fitness "color walk," in which each participant is assigned a colour to walk around and photograph. Elaine helped organise it, though she admits she overslept and missed it herself.

The events are not all led by Elaine. Many are hosted by members who bring their own skills to the group. "It was just her sharing her talent to a group of girls," Elaine said of the makeup session. "Just being girls."

Messages that keeps her going

Elaine keeps screenshots of messages from women who have attended. A theme repeats in them: "Thank you for your group." Others simply say the event was fun.

Asked why making friends is so hard in a city this size, she points to a basic problem. "Where to find friends? How do you even start?" In a large city, many social circles are already formed, and newcomers can feel they have to break into one.

"Even if I'm not there, I'm just like, oh, some people are getting more friends out of it," she said.

From WhatApp spam to an App

As the community grew, so did the logistics. It first lived in a WhatsApp group. Whenever someone proposed a walk or an outing, members replied with a numbered list, "1, 2, 3, 4," adding their names one by one.

"It was getting too much spam," Elaine said. She started asking herself how to make the whole thing more practical and easier for people to reserve a spot.

The answer was an app. Elaine built it with the help of an AI tool, and she is quick to admit that she does not have a technical background. "I do not know how to create an app," she said, laughing.

Members can sign up for events through the app, and hosts can see who is coming, tap a name to message the person directly through Instagram, and confirm that they are attending. Where the old WhatsApp lists made it hard to know who would actually turn up, the app makes it simple.

WhatsApp has not disappeared. The community now runs WhatsApp groups organised by interest, including a general chat, content creators, arts workshops and fitness, so members can join the ones that match what they like.

Since the app launched, 47 events have been listed on it, from pickleball sessions to makeup meetups and walks.

"I am just happy that I can actually bring girls together," she said.

Just create an invite

For anyone new to the city, or long-term residents who still feel isolated, Elaine's advice is simple.

"Just create an invite. Don't be shy. I think the first step is to put your foot out there. You never know who you can have a connection with."

She added: "You can't create friends if you're just inside, just at home. I mean, you can chat, but sometimes you also have to take a step forward."

The invite does not have to be elaborate. "It can be anything you think of," she says. "A cafe, even just a walk. Sky's the limit."

Building something that supports others

Elaine does not see the community as competing with others in the city. Members are often pointed toward workshops hosted by other people, walking groups and run clubs, the latter once the weather cools. "It is just supporting everyone," she said.

She wants the community to keep growing, and she knows it began with one pickleball post that no one was sure would get a reply.

It also began with an earlier lesson. Seven years ago, Elaine found her first friends by walking into a hip hop class she knew nothing about. Today, she is trying to make that kind of moment easier for other women to find.