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> Don’t call it a “dating” app. The app should be labeled as a “singles” app. Not a bad idea from a marketing perspective, but I'd put this last. > Focus on h

> Don’t call it a “dating” app. The app should be labeled as a “singles” app. Not a bad idea from a marketing perspective, but I'd put this last. > Focus on having a good time. The “conversion” shouldn’t be a match, it should be having a fun night out. This is where you'll limit your audience. Unfortunately, in my opinion, a lot of people today are timid about going out to meet strangers. This is partly because it's so easy to escape reality into Netflix and Reddit or Discord, but we're becoming more and more of a risk-averse culture. When I was growing up, adults would often overemphasize the dangers of adulthood, and I can't imagine things have gotten better since. > Enforce a 50:50 ratio. This might bring DAUs down, but without enforcing a M:F ratio, you end up with asymmetric markets. I think I like this. > Organize occasional group events. Without becoming a meetup app, the app should push events — concerts, hikes, movie nights — with groups of 6-10 people. I like this, too, and I think that something like this might be made possible programmatically. I'm thinking the kind of matchmaking used in multiplayer games but used to organize meetups. > Avoid ELOs and other ranking algorithms. At the very least, don't go down the road of MBTI and other forms of fake psychology. > Have a vetting process with a zero-tolerance policy for bad apples (harassers, catfishes, etc.). I wonder what the abuse rate would be for something like this. --- Here are some ways I think this could be made better: - People can only be discovered if they are online. If they haven't been active in 30 days, their account is kicked out and they have to reapply and wait in line if there's a waitlist to maintain the 50:50 ratio. - The photos you use must be taken at a designated photography studio. Users cannot upload their own photos. They're free to wear makeup and nice clothes, but no filters or obnoxious facial expressions are allowed.(obviously the studio can airbrush out zits and simple things like that) The studio can also be a place where random singles can meet in person. Accounts are activated upon completing this, and I think that will help prevent bots, making them nearly impossible. - If you don't initiate any conversations within a period of time(not sure what that should be), this should result in a warning, and if the warning isn't heeded by a certain point, the user is kicked back into the waitlist or is suspended for a short period of time.

juped 7y ago
>The photos you use must be taken at a designated photography studio. Users cannot upload their own photos. [...] This is probably the top idea in this whole thread so far.
- crooked-v 7y ago
  While it's an interesting idea, that's a pretty big up-front cost per user.
  - the-pigeon 7y ago
    Kinda the point though. Granted I was married slightly before Tinder became big but from my reading it seems like the biggest issue with these apps is bots. Making people jump through a hop bots can't fixes that problem.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- ravenstine 7y ago
  Admittedly, the problem is that this limits the app to being regional. Either the company would need to open offices in major cities, or studios could contract with the company. I think it's feasible, but would limit the audience. The benefits for the user would be incredible, in my opinion. One of the reasons I quit online dating years ago was because I was already wasting tons of time on them, but I felt like I was having my face spat in every time I scrolled/swiped through photos and half of them were annoying instagram filters, or duckface, or people sticking out their tongues, etc. Of course there's people who don't look like their photos. Moderating this in-person eliminates these issues. It's also a revenue model for the dating service, as I'm sure there could revenue could be shared between studios and the service. I also like the idea because it would reduce the number of users who aren't serious. You'll always get people who use online dating because of ego-stroking or because they think it's "funny", but fewer of those people will bother if they have to get their photos taken.
parliament32 7y ago
>The photos you use must be taken at a designated photography studio. That'd be Hard but it's probably easiest to just require passport-compliant photos as your top photo in your profile. Users can upload their own photos lower down, but make the main one follow a standard set of rules. Yeah they're going to be ugly, but everyone will look ugly, so it's a level playing field. > If they haven't been active in 30 days, their account is kicked out I'd lean more like 7 days, but good idea regardless. >If you don't initiate any conversations within a period of time Just lump it into the same timer as "active" above.
smogcutter 7y ago
> Organize occasional group events. Without becoming a meetup app, the app should push events — concerts, hikes, movie nights — with groups of 6-10 people. I’m not convinced group dates solve anything useful (setting aside just making new friends). No reason they wouldn’t just replicate the same imbalance people are complaining about all over this thread (80% of the women chasing 20% of the men), except in person. If you’re the kind of guy who can easily turn a group meetup with total strangers into a “real” date, you probably don’t need much help meeting people to begin with. And if you aren’t that guy, a group of strangers is probably not where you’ll shine (romantically, at least). That said I can see how a group setting could be more appealing to women, mostly from a safety point of view. That’s definitely a plus.
hamburglar 7y ago
> > Focus on having a good time. The “conversion” shouldn’t be a match, it should be having a fun night out. > This is where you'll limit your audience. Unfortunately, in my opinion, a lot of people today are timid about going out to meet strangers. This, to me, is a tragedy. About 4 years ago I figured out the secret to online dating, which was to have no expectations and just have a good time. I wish I could somehow convey to the many, many bitter men out there that this is the key. Go meet someone you don't think is "hot" but who turns out to be absolutely gorgeous and just takes lousy pictures. Go meet people who are so much fun you're attracted to them. Go meet people who you don't end up being attracted to but who can hold good conversations over a couple drinks and be ok with that. Here's why: when you aren't invested in the outcome, and are just along for the enjoyable ride, you become more attractive. Challenge yourself to meet up with people you are kind of "meh" about and you will surprise yourself.

juped 7y ago

>The photos you use must be taken at a designated photography studio. Users cannot upload their own photos. [...] This is probably the top idea in this whole thread so far.

crooked-v 7y ago
While it's an interesting idea, that's a pretty big up-front cost per user.
- the-pigeon 7y ago
  Kinda the point though. Granted I was married slightly before Tinder became big but from my reading it seems like the biggest issue with these apps is bots. Making people jump through a hop bots can't fixes that problem.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
ravenstine 7y ago
Admittedly, the problem is that this limits the app to being regional. Either the company would need to open offices in major cities, or studios could contract with the company. I think it's feasible, but would limit the audience. The benefits for the user would be incredible, in my opinion. One of the reasons I quit online dating years ago was because I was already wasting tons of time on them, but I felt like I was having my face spat in every time I scrolled/swiped through photos and half of them were annoying instagram filters, or duckface, or people sticking out their tongues, etc. Of course there's people who don't look like their photos. Moderating this in-person eliminates these issues. It's also a revenue model for the dating service, as I'm sure there could revenue could be shared between studios and the service. I also like the idea because it would reduce the number of users who aren't serious. You'll always get people who use online dating because of ego-stroking or because they think it's "funny", but fewer of those people will bother if they have to get their photos taken.

parliament32 7y ago

>The photos you use must be taken at a designated photography studio. That'd be Hard but it's probably easiest to just require passport-compliant photos as your top photo in your profile. Users can upload their own photos lower down, but make the main one follow a standard set of rules. Yeah they're going to be ugly, but everyone will look ugly, so it's a level playing field. > If they haven't been active in 30 days, their account is kicked out I'd lean more like 7 days, but good idea regardless. >If you don't initiate any conversations within a period of time Just lump it into the same timer as "active" above.

smogcutter 7y ago

> Organize occasional group events. Without becoming a meetup app, the app should push events — concerts, hikes, movie nights — with groups of 6-10 people. I’m not convinced group dates solve anything useful (setting aside just making new friends). No reason they wouldn’t just replicate the same imbalance people are complaining about all over this thread (80% of the women chasing 20% of the men), except in person. If you’re the kind of guy who can easily turn a group meetup with total strangers into a “real” date, you probably don’t need much help meeting people to begin with. And if you aren’t that guy, a group of strangers is probably not where you’ll shine (romantically, at least). That said I can see how a group setting could be more appealing to women, mostly from a safety point of view. That’s definitely a plus.

hamburglar 7y ago

> > Focus on having a good time. The “conversion” shouldn’t be a match, it should be having a fun night out. > This is where you'll limit your audience. Unfortunately, in my opinion, a lot of people today are timid about going out to meet strangers. This, to me, is a tragedy. About 4 years ago I figured out the secret to online dating, which was to have no expectations and just have a good time. I wish I could somehow convey to the many, many bitter men out there that this is the key. Go meet someone you don't think is "hot" but who turns out to be absolutely gorgeous and just takes lousy pictures. Go meet people who are so much fun you're attracted to them. Go meet people who you don't end up being attracted to but who can hold good conversations over a couple drinks and be ok with that. Here's why: when you aren't invested in the outcome, and are just along for the enjoyable ride, you become more attractive. Challenge yourself to meet up with people you are kind of "meh" about and you will surprise yourself.