4 ms·

Do You Wanna Hook Up? - example of a facebook connect app

31 points by danw 18y ago

vptes1 18y ago
this is a great site!
thorax 18y ago
The last time I saw something like this was way back as a LiveJournal meme. It reappeared two months later as "Pay $5 to see all the people who wanted to hook up with you". That's when they made all their money. Sinister.
- prt2101 18y ago
  ouch! good thing these guys actually have a privacy policy. lol
  - potatolicious 18y ago
    So what if they do? :) You wouldn't even know who to sue if they let your info out.
    - alexc218 18y ago
      nearly all of the sites out there that you trust with your username/password are susceptible to this. you just have to trust that all of them will protect your privacy, as they indicate in their policies. facebook and google harvest much more personal info on you than this site, btw.
hansmoleman 18y ago
I really have a hard time imagining someone I actually wanted to "hook up" with ever using a site like this. In fact, I'd be surprised if a single female signed up for this.
- prt2101 18y ago
  I totally disagree - there are lots of females who are lonely and want dates, and would be willing to try something like this. After all, lots of females use dating sites like match.com
  - smysore 18y ago
    i think they're referred to as "girls" or "women" not "females" ;)
superchink 18y ago
I won't be surprised if we see 10 different sites with the same basic concept. The details in each implementation will ultimately determine if anyone of them finds success.
ahoyhere 18y ago
February 15, 2005: "So I said, narrow the focus. Your 'use case' should be, there's a 22 year old college student living in the dorms. How will this software get him laid?" — jwz @ http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html FINALLY IT'S COME TRUE
mseebach 18y ago
It's nice concept, because it's immune to the problem of whatever it's called that dating sites have, where they need many profiles to be popular, and to get profiles they need to be popular. A service like this has zero-to-little barrier to entry, it only takes a few minutes to tag who you would want to hook up with, and once you do, it can sit there for months without requiring any maintenance. Once it starts working, word will get around, and I believe the word viral is more than appropriate here.
- gjm11 18y ago
  The phrase you're looking for is "network effect", but I'm not convinced that this doesn't suffer from it. If, as someone else has (fairly convincingly) said elsewhere in this HN discussion, there are a bunch of other Facebook apps doing the same thing, do you really expect each user to maintain lists with all of them? If not, the value is greatly reduced. (I suppose it's possible that different ones consistently appeal to different demographics or something, in which case the effective number of competitors for any given person would be less.)
  - mseebach 18y ago
    Yeah, network effect. I seem to recall having heard a more specific term for social networks, but that doesn't matter now. I maintain that the concept is, if not immune, then more resistant to it - I'm not going to a dating site, because the people I want to hook up with aren't there (at least I don't know them to be). They are, however, on Facebook. Of course, and that's where I think you have a point - it's not immune to competition. But once the first of these services get a few breakthroughs, the viral effect is going to be pretty hefty, I think.
- dunk010 18y ago
  more generally "chicken and egg" :p
JunkDNA 18y ago
What a brilliant way to make use of Facebook. I can see this being great for the High School and college crowd especially.
joshu 18y ago
all good applications must service one of the cardinal sins. preferably several at once.
Raphael 18y ago
This is excellent. Two suggestions: - Filter by gender - Check boxes instead of search, for the non-picky people
cduan 18y ago
I would just add all of my friends to see who picked me.
- prt2101 18y ago
  then you are consenting to a relationship with whoever you match first. if you later say "oh, i didn't really mean to put you on my list!", its kinda like asking someone out and then saying "oh, i didnt really mean to ask you out!"
snprbob86 18y ago
There are DOZENS of apps exactly like this one already on Facebook. What does Facebook Connect buy them over being a normal app? And what suggests this one will succeed where all the others failed to achieve critical mass?
- alexc218 18y ago
  nope. you're 100% wrong. there are tons of cheesy matching apps on facebook, but none do exactly what this one does.
  - snprbob86 18y ago
    I typed in "Crush" to an Application search and found a whole bunch. "Crush Tracker" says: Here's how it works: 1. Add the Crush Tracker application. 2. Create your secret list of crushes. Don't worry, only you can see this list. 3. Invite your friends to use Crush Tracker. If one of your crushes adds you to their crush list, you'll both be notified. 4. Live happily ever after in a magical land filled with rainbows and unicorns. "Crush List" is described as "Add your friends that you have a secret crush on. If they also add you to their crush list, both of you are notified!" I only searched for "Crush" and even then only for about a minute. There are at least a dozen of these apps by various names. Maybe you should check your facts before you declare someone is 100% wrong...
    - prt2101 18y ago
      this one is really suseptible to someone adding all his/her friends just to see who they match - once you delete someone, the other person is no longer notified of the crush. plus, multiple people can match (downside) and there's only one type of relationship (the crush). and there aren't many fb connect sites out there: this is a good example of one.
jmtame 18y ago
Sign me up baby!
volida 18y ago
because it's so hard to send a message to the person you want to go out with? what's next? help me drink my coffee?
- gjm11 18y ago
  Very first non-content-free sentence on the site's front page: "Ever want to ask someone out, but are afraid of getting rejected? This site is your solution!" The whole point is the "afraid of getting rejected" bit. (Well, I guess there are other reasons besides fear of rejection why you might want someone not to know you wanted to "hook up" with them unless it was mutual. For instance: consider someone who has a partner, wants to have an affair with someone else, but doesn't want anyone to know they're willing to be unfaithful unless they won't mind that. I make no comment on the ethics of this.)
ShardPhoenix 18y ago
I always thought something like this would be a good idea, but it still requires the people you know to actually use it, which tends to be the sticking point. Also, there's a significant risk that if people are shy enough to use this rather than asking someone out directly, they'll still be too shy to openly talk about it with the other person even after receiving the notice of mutual attraction. I actually had that happen with a similar feature on OKCupid (where you rate people on looks/personality, and if you have a mutually high rating, it notifies you both). I think it might be related to the game theoretical concept of common knowledge (http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/CommonKnowledge.html http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/CommonKnowledge.html) (vs. mere mutual knowledge), or something along those lines.
yummyfajitas 18y ago
Orkut had this feature several years back. My girlfriend at the time made me sign up to orkut just to test it out. Then I added all 6 of my friends who were actually on orkut to see who liked me. The only hit I got was a guy doing the same thing. Big problem with this app: some girls will add all their friends just for an ego boost. Dating sites have this problem as well, I think.
dunk010 18y ago
I thought this would be a good idea but there's a problem (as has been alluded to by someone else) in that anyone can add everyone they know so that they can find out who has already selected them and then get a notification whenever anyone selects them in the future. Your data's not safe, not in the least ;P.
jaytee_clone 18y ago
What would you do after you get a match? Call her/him and invite them to you place? From my experience, awkward situation like this may ruin a potential relationship.

31 points by danw 18y ago

this is a great site!

The last time I saw something like this was way back as a LiveJournal meme. It reappeared two months later as "Pay $5 to see all the people who wanted to hook up with you". That's when they made all their money. Sinister.

prt2101 18y ago
ouch! good thing these guys actually have a privacy policy. lol
- potatolicious 18y ago
  So what if they do? :) You wouldn't even know who to sue if they let your info out.
  - alexc218 18y ago
    nearly all of the sites out there that you trust with your username/password are susceptible to this. you just have to trust that all of them will protect your privacy, as they indicate in their policies. facebook and google harvest much more personal info on you than this site, btw.

hansmoleman 18y ago

I really have a hard time imagining someone I actually wanted to "hook up" with ever using a site like this. In fact, I'd be surprised if a single female signed up for this.

prt2101 18y ago
I totally disagree - there are lots of females who are lonely and want dates, and would be willing to try something like this. After all, lots of females use dating sites like match.com
- smysore 18y ago
  i think they're referred to as "girls" or "women" not "females" ;)

superchink 18y ago

I won't be surprised if we see 10 different sites with the same basic concept. The details in each implementation will ultimately determine if anyone of them finds success.

ahoyhere 18y ago

February 15, 2005: "So I said, narrow the focus. Your 'use case' should be, there's a 22 year old college student living in the dorms. How will this software get him laid?" — jwz @ http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html FINALLY IT'S COME TRUE

mseebach 18y ago

It's nice concept, because it's immune to the problem of whatever it's called that dating sites have, where they need many profiles to be popular, and to get profiles they need to be popular. A service like this has zero-to-little barrier to entry, it only takes a few minutes to tag who you would want to hook up with, and once you do, it can sit there for months without requiring any maintenance. Once it starts working, word will get around, and I believe the word viral is more than appropriate here.

gjm11 18y ago
The phrase you're looking for is "network effect", but I'm not convinced that this doesn't suffer from it. If, as someone else has (fairly convincingly) said elsewhere in this HN discussion, there are a bunch of other Facebook apps doing the same thing, do you really expect each user to maintain lists with all of them? If not, the value is greatly reduced. (I suppose it's possible that different ones consistently appeal to different demographics or something, in which case the effective number of competitors for any given person would be less.)
- mseebach 18y ago
  Yeah, network effect. I seem to recall having heard a more specific term for social networks, but that doesn't matter now. I maintain that the concept is, if not immune, then more resistant to it - I'm not going to a dating site, because the people I want to hook up with aren't there (at least I don't know them to be). They are, however, on Facebook. Of course, and that's where I think you have a point - it's not immune to competition. But once the first of these services get a few breakthroughs, the viral effect is going to be pretty hefty, I think.
dunk010 18y ago
more generally "chicken and egg" :p

JunkDNA 18y ago

What a brilliant way to make use of Facebook. I can see this being great for the High School and college crowd especially.

joshu 18y ago

all good applications must service one of the cardinal sins. preferably several at once.

Raphael 18y ago

This is excellent. Two suggestions: - Filter by gender - Check boxes instead of search, for the non-picky people

cduan 18y ago

I would just add all of my friends to see who picked me.

prt2101 18y ago
then you are consenting to a relationship with whoever you match first. if you later say "oh, i didn't really mean to put you on my list!", its kinda like asking someone out and then saying "oh, i didnt really mean to ask you out!"

snprbob86 18y ago

There are DOZENS of apps exactly like this one already on Facebook. What does Facebook Connect buy them over being a normal app? And what suggests this one will succeed where all the others failed to achieve critical mass?

alexc218 18y ago
nope. you're 100% wrong. there are tons of cheesy matching apps on facebook, but none do exactly what this one does.
- snprbob86 18y ago
  I typed in "Crush" to an Application search and found a whole bunch. "Crush Tracker" says: Here's how it works: 1. Add the Crush Tracker application. 2. Create your secret list of crushes. Don't worry, only you can see this list. 3. Invite your friends to use Crush Tracker. If one of your crushes adds you to their crush list, you'll both be notified. 4. Live happily ever after in a magical land filled with rainbows and unicorns. "Crush List" is described as "Add your friends that you have a secret crush on. If they also add you to their crush list, both of you are notified!" I only searched for "Crush" and even then only for about a minute. There are at least a dozen of these apps by various names. Maybe you should check your facts before you declare someone is 100% wrong...
  - prt2101 18y ago
    this one is really suseptible to someone adding all his/her friends just to see who they match - once you delete someone, the other person is no longer notified of the crush. plus, multiple people can match (downside) and there's only one type of relationship (the crush). and there aren't many fb connect sites out there: this is a good example of one.

jmtame 18y ago

Sign me up baby!

volida 18y ago

because it's so hard to send a message to the person you want to go out with? what's next? help me drink my coffee?

gjm11 18y ago
Very first non-content-free sentence on the site's front page: "Ever want to ask someone out, but are afraid of getting rejected? This site is your solution!" The whole point is the "afraid of getting rejected" bit. (Well, I guess there are other reasons besides fear of rejection why you might want someone not to know you wanted to "hook up" with them unless it was mutual. For instance: consider someone who has a partner, wants to have an affair with someone else, but doesn't want anyone to know they're willing to be unfaithful unless they won't mind that. I make no comment on the ethics of this.)

ShardPhoenix 18y ago

I always thought something like this would be a good idea, but it still requires the people you know to actually use it, which tends to be the sticking point. Also, there's a significant risk that if people are shy enough to use this rather than asking someone out directly, they'll still be too shy to openly talk about it with the other person even after receiving the notice of mutual attraction. I actually had that happen with a similar feature on OKCupid (where you rate people on looks/personality, and if you have a mutually high rating, it notifies you both). I think it might be related to the game theoretical concept of common knowledge (http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/CommonKnowledge.html http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/CommonKnowledge.html) (vs. mere mutual knowledge), or something along those lines.

yummyfajitas 18y ago

Orkut had this feature several years back. My girlfriend at the time made me sign up to orkut just to test it out. Then I added all 6 of my friends who were actually on orkut to see who liked me. The only hit I got was a guy doing the same thing. Big problem with this app: some girls will add all their friends just for an ego boost. Dating sites have this problem as well, I think.

dunk010 18y ago

I thought this would be a good idea but there's a problem (as has been alluded to by someone else) in that anyone can add everyone they know so that they can find out who has already selected them and then get a notification whenever anyone selects them in the future. Your data's not safe, not in the least ;P.

jaytee_clone 18y ago

What would you do after you get a match? Call her/him and invite them to you place? From my experience, awkward situation like this may ruin a potential relationship.