The person wants to take things slow.
In essence, she wants to get to know someone that she meets on the online dating site quite well first before thinking about doing anything more with that person.
This is a person who just wants to be able to interact with someone on the online dating site without having to bear the pressure of expectations.
Hence, when her online dating profile says that she is just looking for new friends, she is trying to set the expectations of whoever may find her online dating profile and be tempted to send her a message.
She wants whoever comes into her online dating profile to know that if they choose to send her a message, they are going to have to approach their interaction with her as friends first.
In other words, she doesn’t want to get this person’s hopes up when it comes to romance or even the possibility of meeting in person.
Again, she really doesn’t want to have the pressure of romance on her.
Her online dating profile says that she is looking for new friends for a reason.
She wants anyone who finds her online dating profile to understand that she isn’t going to approach their interaction with romance at the forefront of her thoughts.
She would approach their interaction with friendship at the forefront of her thoughts.
She wants that to be clear to whoever thinks about sending her a message.
She knows that most people who are on online dating sites are typically looking to find a romantic partner or hook up.
She doesn’t want anyone who finds her online dating profile to think that she is thinking about this or is a candidate for either option.
Hence, by saying that she is looking for new friends on her online dating profile, she is letting everyone know that they might as well not bother sending her a message if romance or a hook up is at the forefront of their minds.
She doesn’t want to deal with these kind of expectations nor does she want to feel as though she is obligated to have the same expectations.
As far as she is concerned, by saying that she is looking for new friends on her online dating profile, she has been very transparent and forthcoming with what she wants.
Hence, no one can accuse her of wasting their time by making them believe that she wanted romance or a hook up with them.
Another reason why this person’s online dating profile says that she is looking for new friends could also be because this is typically how she has gone about meeting romantic partners when dating in the real world.
All of her previous relationships in the real world may have started with friendships.
Most people who come into online dating still have the same outlook or belief structure that they did when they were dating in the real world.
Hence, they will apply the same principles to online dating as they did to real world dating.
If she was initially friends with her past romantic partners in the real world before she started dating them, she will most likely have the same approach when she starts online dating.
She wants to stay in her comfort zone and with what she understands.
This way, she doesn’t experience surprises and she can protect herself as best she can.
Hence, though she may actually be single, she approaches this whole dating thing with the thought of friendship first.
This is what she has done in the real world and thereby what she feels safe doing now in online dating.
If she were to develop a friendship with someone on the online dating site and she gets to the point where she feels safe and intrigued enough by this person that she wouldn’t mind pursuing a romance with them, she may let this person know as much at some point.
However, there are no guarantees that she will ever get to this point.
The way she looks at it, if she ultimately doesn’t find a romantic partner through online dating, she at least has a new friend.