

Ask HN: Another twist on dating web sites? - yrashk

Most of dating web sites I've seen are more like online catalogues (with some relatively minor exceptions). You browse for girls/guys, pick those who look better and sound more appealing to you. It feels somewhat disgusting — like you're shopping for a soulmate.<p>What if one used another approach to help people with dating, such as urban quests of some sort that might lead to a dating with person without prior exposure to any this person profile? Would it be viable?<p>I am pretty much aware of some security concerns it might raise, but nevertheless :]<p>P.S. And yeah, if this idea sounds interesting to you, feel free to implement it (if it is worth it, I have no idea yet). I had some ideas on how to implement it (business-wise, security-wise, etc.), and would be happy to share them as I don't have much time for this project at this time.
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ismarc
I had an idea at one point that the current sites go about it the wrong way.
They charge money to talk to the people, encouraging the catalog effect. My
idea was that you charge a reasonable fee to join, and then the system makes
some guesses (not any of the "compatibility stuff", but provide a list of
reasonably close matches so you'll have at least one thing in common) and
provides you the list. You can't see anything except their username and
initials at first. You then have "correspondence levels," basically, after x
exchanges it reveals a little more about the profile (say, list of hobbies),
and so on. So you don't really know much about them at first, and it's after
having to communicate that you can see what their profile.

As for the group outings one, I just had an idea about that, too. Most people
have difficulties finding people they click with, and getting that initial
conversation going. I think a 6 person semi-speed date would be a way to
alleviate that. Essentially, 3 guys, 3 girls (or however their preferences
lean, match it so there's 3 and 3) and they rotate through. Each guy would get
15-20 minutes with each girl. And during the "date", they have two coaches,
one being a guy, and the other a girl. It's encouraged for the coaches to
interrupt and pull someone aside to give them a brief bit of advice, etc.

~~~
yrashk
this coaching stuff sounds a little bit awkward for me :) isn't dating a
little bit more an intimate kind of activity?

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byoung2
I've had lots of ideas for dating sites: setting up group outings like ad hoc
speed dating, a rating mechanism for actual dates, a virtual currency system
where you could "buy" access to deeper levels of people's profiles, and many
more.

The problem is always the chicken/egg question. How do I get a sizable
membership to the site. The only answer I see is piggybacking onto a social
network like Facebook.

~~~
yrashk
I had this piggybacking idea too, it is pretty obvious

