The Future of Online Dating is Offline?
It’s 9.00am, I’ve arrived at the office to find a DM waiting for me from one of my American friends burning the midnight oil with the message “The Future of Dating!”.
Intrigued, I click on the link hoping to have it direct through to Global Personals (nothing like self gratification) but instead it brings up an article featured in the New York Times. I read on in anticipation given that the dating market is one which moves at a fast pace, changing constantly to reflect the evolving behaviours of “digital natives”.
What I go on to read baffles me. I’ve linked to the article above, but to summarise for you – it talks of a new service launched in the US called Cheekd.com which charges members a monthly subscription fee. For their fee, the members are given an online profile and a set number of physical cards which they carry with them. When they see somebody that they’re interested in, they approach the guy or girl and present them with the card. The card contains an individual ID which links to their user profile and according to the NYTimes “sassy phrase” also known to normal people as “a cheesy chat up line”.
Whilst it might be a good idea in principle, the following thoughts spring to my mind:-
* What makes it different than giving someone a business card…. and a nicely designed one at that (even personalised if it were a Moo.com card!)?
* If you’re going to pluck up the courage to approach them, wouldn’t you just say hi? Who knows, you might even have (breath in!)…. a conversation! Shocking!
* The person making the approach has absolutely no friggin’ idea as to whether the person is a) single b) visiting on business from the other side of the world c ) of the same sexual orientation! Not too many barriers to cross then!
As far as I can tell, this is purely based on physical attraction, which whilst great (you’re never going to say no to a hottie let’s be fair) isn’t the be all and end all. Humour DOES matter. My mum says so.
Whilst online dating may not be for everyone, it does mean that both parties aren’t faced with an uncomfortable situation, able to respond, if they wish, at their own pace. The ability to chat by IM and email means that you can build a rapport, find out whether you have things in common and actually like one another’s personalities… fundamentals in a relationship I hear.
Most people that join online dating sites nowadays aren’t social recluses but infact successful individuals who don’t have the time to socialise as people may have done years ago. Therefore to combine the online dating facility with finding suitable “targets” offline completely misses the issue. More and more people now have an online persona and so the question is how can we enable them to incorporate this with their dating site profile to allow them to better express their true characteristics. This is something we continue to review.
Whilst I welcome any new ways of people connecting, the thought of going up to a guy and handing him a card with my dating profile details on just smacks of a call girl…? Something I think most girls would be keen to avoid?
So the question is…. would it be something that you’d do? Do you think it could work in the UK or purely in US where people are less reserved? How do you think dating in an ever connected world will evolve? I’d love to hear your views…
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