Loneliness is a real scourge of modern society. In the US and UK, one in five suffers from it. Such high rates are a consequence of the changes that have taken place in the post-industrial world. We are increasingly working remotely, easily changing our place of residence for the sake of a career, and less likely to communicate with friends because of the fatigue of constant micro-contacts with random people in a big city.
One way to avoid loneliness is to find a soulmate. But today, this is not so easy to do. Previously, people met through relatives or friends, in the office, or at a concert. Now, such methods are becoming less accessible, including due to the spread of remote work and forced isolation during a pandemic. Against this background, dating services like Ladadate – date brides online are gaining popularity. However, the zoomers are already fed up with the swipes. What unusual formats do new dating services offer users?
● Live TikToks instead of Instagram pictures
The Snack service allows users to post short videos instead of pictures on their profiles. The videos can be downloaded directly from TikTok. Snack is only available to young users between the ages of 18 and 35. It strives in every possible way to emphasize its dissimilarity to Tinder. For instance, the service abandoned biographies and swipes, replacing them with hashtags and likes.
● Love at first sound
Some dating platforms offer users to get acquainted with the help of voice. For instance, the main tool of the Vox service is audio business cards. If two users rated one of the voice messages equally, a match takes place. Then people see each other’s pictures and a chat that lasts 24 hours and then burns out. This allows you to get to know the person better before engaging in a romantic or friendly relationship with them.
● Dating by memes
The Schmooze app, like Snack, targets a younger audience. The service invites new users to rate a few memes to see what kind of humor they like. Then it matches the person with those who laugh at similar jokes. The creator of Schmooze believes that memes are a natural way for zoomers to communicate: it helps to melt the ice at the first contact.
● Attractiveness above all else
Most niche dating startups are looking for ways to shift the focus away from user looks, but iris has a different concept. The service focused on the first impression of a person. Beginners are offered to evaluate several stock photos. This helps the algorithm understand what facial features or appearances users like. Then artificial intelligence selects potential matches near a person or around the world. If two users from different cities or even countries met in the application and fell in love with each other, then iris promises to pay one of them a plane ticket so that they can meet.
What other services exist
The fantasy of the founders of dating platforms knows no bounds. There are services in the world for meeting:
- clowns;
- those who like to dress up in animal costumes;
- those who have allergies or herpes;
- with cowboys and sailors,
- hot sauce lovers,
- Donald Trump fans.
There are even apps that match a partner based on a picture of their fridge or pet.
