Is online dating broken?
Marcus Finley
19 replies
We recently launched a new relationship platform called 6dgrs.co but through that process of talking to 100s of single people is that online dating through the apps with swiping and power-ups are just broken!
Every person we talked to hated the experiences on those apps and only used them because they seemed like the only option.
We are experimenting with alternative ways of helping people find connections or is the current method of online dating through volume working?
Replies
Brad Jones@bradrjones
Founder of https://www.producthunt.com/upco... here, launching in the next month, and I definitely have opinions on this!
> "...is the current method of online dating through volume working?"
It depends on what you mean by "working," and for whom. If you're talking about the online dating market as a whole, and if the goal is everything from hookups to lifelong relationships, the undeniable truth is that the majority of couples who marry today meet online. So in that sense, sure, it's working.
Is it a fulfilling experience while you're in the mix? For many, obviously the answer is no. It also depends highly on gender, looks (it's true) and location. A great summary of the macro-sociological economics of online dating is found in Aziz Ansari and Eric Klininberg's "Modern Romance," and while a bit dated is still generally applicable. The uptake: It is exponentially more difficult for men to "match" than women. By-in-large.
Now, all of this is to speak of the marketplace as a whole. As online dating has become more societally acceptable, there has been an explosion in specialized dating apps for particular segments of society who seek to play on selection-bias effects. Mormons use Mutual, Christians ChristianMingle, etc.
Some of those niche markets are better served/saturated than others. For instance, the religious set. Meet Kinksters is seeking to answer this problem for singles who know they can't date someone "vanilla" but who also want real relationship compatibility. Right now, the only players in the kinky dating scene focus on the sexual/hookup aspect, and treat these consumers as caricatures who all walk around wearing masquerade masks.
So is online dating dead? No, my pitch deck is rife with research that shows this market as strong as ever. Does it serve customers well? Not all of them, much of the time. Which is why there's plenty of room for creative destruction.
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The Tinder and Instagram models for online dating are very successful and lead to asymmetric outcomes. I work at a company called Happy Money - our Chief Science Officer, Elizabeth Dunn, developed a 36 question assessment that is a prelude to lifelong friendships or relationships. Can we leverage science and technology to deliver better outcomes to the masses?
@keith_alexander_ashe I agree - the combination of science and technology can leverage better outcomes. Also, curious to learn more about the assessment?
i think its all about how many users you have. If i would use an app for dating, i would want to see many others using it so i could find a partner. Also the market is full with dating apps, nearly everyday new ones release and it is defenitly not an easy market. People are going, where other people are. Your app could be amazing, where people really could find love, but without users it is getting nowhere :(
On the business site tinder is so succesfull because it doesnt even try to get you together with someone, thats how they lose customers. Also it is pay to win, and that is brilliant. They have the users, a working system that gives you the feeling you could find the right one, but they do everything possible to not let you go as a customer and that is just smart
@jonassc One thing we've heard through talking to a number of people is the opposite effect over time happens because of the number of connections you can make many of them "lead to nowhere" or become dead-end conversations. So even though with our app you may not get 100+ connections we believe the result is a better quality.
I know at least 5 couples who met on tinder and are very happy.
I also know a lot of singles who hated the experience and never found what they were looking for.
Tinder is working, but its a game of chance. Maybe you could find a better solution with less people feeling frustrated.
@horovody Completely agree - that's definitely our goal which is to empower singles to take control back from themselves instead of waiting for a chance encounter through a swipe. Once they have their own private profile they can get creative on how they can share it within their network of relationahips.
Try advertising in social medias such as Instagram and Snapchat that will surely bring more single people
@jerryton_surya We are definitely ramping up our social media presences and tapping into influencer relationships.
It's not that online dating is broken, its rather than the people using the apps think they are the users when in reality they're the products.
Take Tinder for example. The bad experience is what creates the revenue.
If within a couple swipes you were to meet your life partner and never use the app again, great for the users, awful for the business.
If you swipe on 1000 faces over the course of a few weeks and get no responses, then all of the sudden you're far more inclined to start paying for a subscription that promises to promote your swipes and make them more likely to be seen.
If somehow the economics were to change to where Tinder only got paid when two users got into a long term relationship, the experience for which the product is designed would change overnight.
@michaelflux Completely agree and that's why our current subscription model is based on successful connections not just increasing visibility.
Not that you asked, of course, but a few thoughts from a fellow dating (relationships?) app founder.
- Where's the mobile app? I'm not sure if you're making a PWA/web-only play, but that's not evident to me if so. Dating apps in 2022 means "mobile app." Is that on the roadmap?
- I have no idea how to pronounce the name of your product. How am I to recommend it to others if I don't feel comfortable pronouncing it even in my own head?
- Your landing page doesn't give me a solid sense of your value proposition. Is "trustworthy connections" supposed to mean romance? Why do I need my family to make me "trustworthy connections"? Am I looking for a plumber who won't rip me off, or a girlfriend?
Just some thoughts. My product is far from perfect either (and you've launched, congratulations!) but these seem to be the main limitations in my mind to this gaining traction.
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