Live data from Hacker News

Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

wfmynews2.com

311–320 of 416 posts

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do we need apps with local scope if the aim is to meet in person anyway? Can't we just build clubs/pubs for singles only, with one age group per day of week and security to keep things safe and gender ratios balanced? There's even a good, well-tested monetisation scheme that doesn't have an effect on quality of matches...

This already exists, from speed-dating to singles-only events on meetup.com or at your church. I wonder how many people in these sorts of HN threads who complain about the crapshoot of dating have taken it seriously enough to try these sorts of things. I highly recommend them. Speed-dating itself is really eye-opening.

> This already exists

Exactly, which is why apps that work in the same way, based on exactly the same input (just superficial visual appeal), seem redundant to me. I'd much prefer something that actually makes use of modern technology, for example: upload 3 photos of your exes and we'll find someone similar for you. Or, match people by professions and lifestyles that are compatible in some way (in addition to ML-rated visual appeal).

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They're not changing whether people are attracted to each other or not. Sure they are. Good photos, filters, Photoshop, sometimes even fake pictures, make a huge difference.

When Tinder launched, you could only choose pictures that you've used as your Facebook profile picture. I thought it was a brilliant way to cut down on bullshit because you have to use a picture you were willing to show the whole world (so, less likely to use that photoshopped portrait that doesn't even look like you). Though eventually you could upload any image. Either way, I don't think it's such a big problem. Mo…

If anything ever requires access to Facebook, you can be 100% sure that it's done to grab whatever info is in your FB profile and not for fancy security reasons.

Even if they started from another reason, they'll at some point want to grab the data.

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#314
post #103
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is meeting a stranger in a public place actually dangerous, or do people just feel that it's dangerous? What is the worst that is likely to happen if two people meet up in a cafe or city park?

The worst that could happen is rape and murder. Talk to women sometimes about how they approach personal safety, and how many scary situations and too-close calls they've already had. It's a law of truly large numbers thing. Even if a tiny tiny minority of guys are actually dangerous, over the course of even a relatively young life the average woman has encountered quite a few of them. They make life decisions accord…

Rapes and murders in public places are exceedingly rare.

The app could certainly facilitate "safe" dates by helping guide people toward certain places. That could even be the business model where you would book reservations at certain restaurants, coffee shops, or wherever through the app.

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#315
post #36

Dating apps are extremely broken, and yet they're almost all owned by a single company: Match Group. I have a suspicion that these apps are left intentionally broken to keep users fruitlessly searching and boost engagement metrics. I can't find a complete list of the companies they've acquired, but last time I checked, Match owns over 20 different apps and dating sites, including Tinder, OkCupid, and Hinge. We really…

Match is not responsible for your lack of success in online dating. Having a lot of brands is not a good reason to involve the government. Hilton hotels has over a dozen brands. There's nothing stopping you from creating a competing dating app. If you have some insight into what's "extremely broken" and a solution for it, you might even attract customers. Sorry for being brash, but I've been seeing a lot of unjustifi…

The anti-trust hammer won't fix the problems in tech, but it will definitely fix the problems with tech: too much power over us. If they're busy competing with each-other for customers, maybe they won't abuse so much...

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#316
post #48
post #36

Dating apps are extremely broken, and yet they're almost all owned by a single company: Match Group. I have a suspicion that these apps are left intentionally broken to keep users fruitlessly searching and boost engagement metrics. I can't find a complete list of the companies they've acquired, but last time I checked, Match owns over 20 different apps and dating sites, including Tinder, OkCupid, and Hinge. We really…

Do you have any suggestions to improve dating apps?

I am wanting to be social again after a divorce, and am not willing to join any of the dating apps currently available.

Here is what I'd like to see:

First-name only user names, real names/account names should be hidden or opaque

No association with or dependency on external social media accounts

Reasonable monthly service fee (around $10/month) with the promise of no advertising, tracking, geotracking, or selling of user data

Pull only notification

Strict never-match criteria

Hyper-local geographical matching, with ability to turn on (I'm heading out tonight and am available) and turn off (the rest of the time)

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#317

I tried many dating site over the years and the one thing that stood out is if you're under 6 feet tall don't even bother creating an account.

Am 5'11". Married a girl I met on Tinder

That's within the margin of error of 6ft.

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#318
post #36

Dating apps are extremely broken, and yet they're almost all owned by a single company: Match Group. I have a suspicion that these apps are left intentionally broken to keep users fruitlessly searching and boost engagement metrics. I can't find a complete list of the companies they've acquired, but last time I checked, Match owns over 20 different apps and dating sites, including Tinder, OkCupid, and Hinge. We really…

Sorry, but they're not extremely broken. I worked at OkCupid 8 years ago, saw the issues they faced then and have seen the evolution of the apps since then, and right now they really are as good as anyone's been able to come up with that attracts enough active users to generate promising dates. If there were a drastically better solution, then it would take over the market. The last major innovation was when Tinder i…

It would be funny if it was not so tragic how naive nerds are. You were either working in dev/marketing on a product that inherently cannot be profitable without being deceitful.

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#319
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any suggestions to improve dating apps?

I am wanting to be social again after a divorce, and am not willing to join any of the dating apps currently available. Here is what I'd like to see: First-name only user names, real names/account names should be hidden or opaque No association with or dependency on external social media accounts Reasonable monthly service fee (around $10/month) with the promise of no advertising, tracking, geotracking, or selling of…

I mean... with the exception of advertising, you just described tinder.

Re: Greensboro Man Creates Dating App Where He's the Only Guy Allowed

#320
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> except that the payment goes to the recipient I believe you just described escorting/prostitution. Not that I am against sex work, but that app would be DOA.

Nope. Meeting in person ain’t prostitution. This is how a bunch of Americans meet their partners (in bars, coffee shops etc.).

Yes, but sending compensation to a person in order to meet (unless they're a confidential informant) is usually seen by law enforcement as suspicious.
Post reply on HN