Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
wednesdaynight.me
Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
1–10 of 51 posts
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#2These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it).
Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#3These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
No.
You would have been correct to deduce that young 20-something people who are trying to scratch an itch keep thinking that a better dating site (as measured by one that can get them dates) is a real need, and the FB tie-in is an obvious way to do it.
They keep failing for the reasons that are pointed out on HN. And since they fail, not long after someone else looking around for an itch to scratch says, "Why doesn't someone make a better dating site using FB? Doesn't seem like anyone has done it yet. And HN is the perfect place to get feedback on it!"
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#4These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
Most dating services allow you to join using any e-mail address, but with that comes a lot of problems such as fake accounts, spam, data mining, creepy behavior because of anonymity, no real ability to ban someone, etc.
Using Facebook solves many problems that we'd rather stick with it--I have no idea how many users we're missing out on. Probably a lot. I would say only use Facebook if it makes sense for your product and your users, and it doesn't for everyone. The mistake most FB-connected dating companies make (and why most people don't like them) is they abuse the implicit trust. They post stuff to people's walls or activity feeds because they're trying to grow quickly. As long as you don't do that, I think you'll develop enough trust with people for them to recommend you to their friends.
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#5These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
No. You would have been correct to deduce that young 20-something people who are trying to scratch an itch keep thinking that a better dating site (as measured by one that can get them dates) is a real need, and the FB tie-in is an obvious way to do it. They keep failing for the reasons that are pointed out on HN. And since they fail, not long after someone else looking around for an itch to scratch says, "Why doesn'…
We never started with the thought "why don't we use FB to build a dating site." Facebook is simply a means to solve a lot of different problems that come up in dating, and it ends up providing a better experience. That's all we care about.
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#6These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
Tinder requires sign in with FB but still seems awfully popular. They make sure to make it clear before and after sign up that they'll never spam your wall, which is very important. Few young people are willing to admit that they do online dating, there's still quite a stigma attached.
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#7These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
Not referring to dating sites in particular, but the requirement of a Facebook sign-up for start-ups I think is a good idea. For everybody who says "I don't want to give you my details", I suspect their are 50 who will just be thankful for not having to give you an e-mail password and remember login details, get spam, etc. etc.
That's why I almost always look at a project as allowing Facebook sign-up first, then e-mail/twitter/google/linkedin, etc. etc.
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#8These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
Grouper is growing like crazy and requires Facebook.
This is basically Grouper, without the group, and way too expensive ($75 per date? Are you kidding?). I would also say much less appealing then Grouper as well, because going solo is a much harder sell, at least to the younger demographic.
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#9These dating/find-a-friend services that require Facebook show up often on HN, and like clockwork are berated because they are Facebook-only (and the privacy issues that go along with it). Yet people keep making them. Am I correct to deduce they are popular and there is market for them, and that it's only HN that hates them?
Grouper is growing like crazy and requires Facebook. This is basically Grouper, without the group, and way too expensive ($75 per date? Are you kidding?). I would also say much less appealing then Grouper as well, because going solo is a much harder sell, at least to the younger demographic.
I've been on a few Groupers. The reason they ask you to bring friends is because they're setting you up on a blind date. If the blind date goes bad and there's no chemistry, your friends act as a hedge against having a bad night. Sure, the girls may not be good, but you've still got your friends so you can go somewhere else afterwards.
When we setup drinks, you see who you're going out with, so it isn't blind. You know there's at least some physical attraction, or something about the other person you're interested in. We don't assume for you that it'll work out, both people decide in advance that they want to meet up. Worst case scenario is you meet someone interesting, and maybe you'll stay in touch after that.
As for pricing, I still think the service we offer isn't priced high enough. Grouper makes $120 per night out, we make $75 or $150 and it's not blind--they're splitting the cost between your friends. If you're busy, your time is valuable. For every 100 messages you send out on a dating web site, you'll get on average 10 replies. For every 10 replies, you'll on average get 1 date. For every 10 dates, you'll have 1 or 2 good matches. That's a lot of manual time, and I'd say that alone is worth $75 if you're a busy professional.
We will never attract professional grade matchmakers at this price point, but we can at least do a lot of the work for you and suggest good matches. If you want to hire an actual matchmaker, you'll be paying in the order of thousands of dollars. Linx Dating, just to use an extreme example, is $30,000 for 11 introductions over 2 years. And that's not counting the $500 application process.
Re: Show HN: Too busy for online dating? Try Wednesday Night
#10I'm not sure how I feel about this. They aren't matching you up with people they've vetted or know -- they're just finding you a date from other online dating services. And then charging you $75 (which could end up being $150 for them if they get both people via their site).
Semi-related, but Tim Ferriss has an interesting story about how he "outsourced his love life": http://blog.timferriss.com/1/post/2009/07/how-to-tim-ferriss...