Blendr: A Smartphone App To Broadcast 'I'm Single and Looking'

Sick of first dates being the result of intense online research and communication on dating sites? Would you prefer to just walk around and meet people by wearing a t-shirt that says “I’m single” and lists your interests — but is only visible to other swinging singles? Now, there’s a virtual way of doing that.

You have to 'put yourself out there' to meet someone. Are you willing to be this out there?

There’s been a popular app for this purpose for a while in the gay community called Grindr — a “geosocial” dating network that shows users single types that are in their immediate vicinity. It’s a nice filtering tool: Rather than having to narrow an infinite pool of prospectives on a dating site to those with whom you have something in common, you can just see whether you have anything in common with the limited set of people within walking distance. The app now has over 2 million users world-wide (and at least one big political scandal), so its creators decided to launch a version for the heteros with a slightly less sexually-explicit name: Blendr.
The advertising-supported app is currently available on iPhones, Apples devices, and Facebook. Just like any other dating site, you post a photo and lists your interests; the app then shows you profiles of nearby people with similar interests. Given the sensitivity of sharing locations and sensitive info with strangers, the creators have incorporated some nifty privacy features, notes Jenna Wortham at the NYT:

The application doesn’t show an exact location, just a rough estimate of how far away a user is — such as 25 or 300 feet. In addition, the app offers several ways to control who can see your profile. For example, 25-year-old women using the app who decide they want to meet only 25-year-old men can adjust their settings appropriately so their profile is only visible to that group.

And as everyone knows, no one ever lies about their age in a dating profile…

“Even if you’re a married man and you only want to meet other married men to play poker, you can set the settings to show those matches,” Mr. Simkhai said.
via Finding an Instant Date Nearby, With an App – NYTimes.com.

“To play poker.”
Increasingly, our smartphones are going to enable us to incorporate online behavior into our offline, real-world lives. To stay competitive, other dating sites are also adding location-aware apps to their offerings, so that those on the prowl can bring OkCupid along as a wingman on a Friday night.

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Meexo: Bringing Game-ified Dating To Your Smartphone

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it one thousand times. Online dating has grown into big business, but it’s still pretty creepy. There are a lot of startups out there trying to do it better, trying to innovate and iterate, but given the very nature of the beast, it’s a tough obstacle to tackle. Meexo, a startup launching this afternoon at TechCrunch Disrupt is trying to offer a new spin on the dating model by becoming a truly mobile dating site.
So what’s it like interacting with this mobile-centric dating app? Meexo is like Pandora for dating, as you interact with the application, it learns about you, and becomes more relevant as you go. If you use Foursquare and Facebook, Meexo pulls in that data to learn more about who you are and what you like.
Yet, as many dating site veterans know, dating platforms can be creepy — and sometimes even dangerous, so Meexo wants to help you manage your privacy. It does this by allowing users to send text messages using the app without actually revealing your phone number. Right, because there’s nothing less creepy than a “private number”. Meexo does also help the creep factor by only allowing one profile per smartphone, so you can’t go crazy creating those fake, stalker profiles.
A great feature, though, considering the alternative, is that Meexo enables users to block direct connections on social networks, so that none of your friends can see your Meexo profile. The founders said that, in doing their due diligence, they found that many people refuse to join dating sites for fear of exposing dating profiles to people they already know. Thus, Meexo’s solution for this is the reverse social graph, which means that none of your direct connections on social networks can see your Meexo profile. You know you’re in a safe environment, transforming Meexo into an app that truly connects you with people you actually don’t know, not more people you do.
What’s more, users have access to calendars, to which they can add events and plan dates; if you’re running late for a meetup, for example, you can message right from the app. Meexo is also looking to become your personal concierge (or assistant), remembering that both you and your girlfriend love sushi, and her birthday happens to be coming up, so the app will alert you and help you set up a date at a great sushi restaurant. (A partnerships with OpenTable, for instance, would be a huge leg up here.)
Lastly, Meexo is distinguishing itself from the pack by game-ifying dating. When a user joins Meexo, they receive virtual currency, which users pay out when they message other people, forcing daters to be more discerning in their selections. Obviously, in this way, Meexo is attempting to avoid the spamming that has become so endemic to dating sites.
Meexo will be available on the app store soon, and the earlier you sign up, the more virtual currency you get, so check it out.
The future of the online industry is mobile, but as it stands, most mobile dating feels like an extension of desktop websites plus location. As this is the case, Meexo is offering a bunch of cool features to set itself apart, though game-ifying dating does seem like it has the potential to be a bit creepy. Will be interesting to see how the startup moves forward from here.

Source:Internet

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