So most of you know I’ve checked out a couple of online dating sites but have done it more in the name of research as opposed to searching for somebody to date. This is evident in the fact that I won’t pay for the services. I’m mostly interested in the different UIs, the algorithms for setting ppl up, the business models and the mobile apps. Apparently yesterday an app launched at DEMOfall 09 which gives a person the ability to look up people that they will possibly date. Although the app is free but you have to pay extra (I hope it’s written clearly how much and at what point) for information regarding criminal records, social networking info… This is an app I will not be purchasing. When looking at companies or services, I usually research the management and it appears that this one has a sketchy history. Kinda funny if you think about it since they probably wouldn’t want allegations of fraud to be brought up when requesting funding or trying to get a date but with their app, it’s possible.
Where I was going with this is that yes, I sometimes google people that I’ll be meeting up with or going on a date with but in the end, I look forward to getting to know the person by actually talking to them as opposed to researching everything about them first. Unless of course you’re an ax murderer…
After 2 years of my Match.com profile being set on ‘invisible’ I decided to take a look at it and make some updates. I got interested in different dating sites due to various iphone apps for meeting people. My intentions weren’t/aren’t to meet the one but more to check out the UI’s and different functions available within the iphone apps. While I’m open to online dating, I’ve found that there’s a couple of barriers for me that hinder meeting someone. First reason I’m not completely sold on online dating is that I’m still being introduced to ladies through friends and social groups who know me quite well. Secondly, I don’t like the business models.
I guess part of it is that I’m still quite happy meeting people through friends which makes me lazy when it comes to putting in real time and effort into meeting a woman via the internet. That being said, I do enjoy checking out the match.com iphone app and who knows, maybe I’ll meet somebody. There really are a ton of people using it. Now comes the business model issue that I referred to: I’m what I consider a “casual online dating site checker” I look at who’s viewed me, winked… every once in a while but I still am very much meeting people through other avenues. So I’m not willing to pay a monthly subscription to communicate with somebody or see who’s emailed me… thus far, the emails have been from people who don’t have profile pics up and yes, that’s a deal-breaker for me. I would be more interested in Match.com if they started offering a micro-transaction type model for those of us who every once in a while want to email/ wink… then we could be charged per wink or per email. How about charging me a dollar for every email and $.25 per wink? That would definitely make people think longer before winking at every Joe Schmo they see. And if you’re wondering if this type of model is profitable, I’d say it is. Just look at the revenues that gaming/virtual worlds are pulling in via micro-transaction models.
I chose Match.com as an example because I haven’t bothered using any other sites and with dating sites, there needs to be a large pool of people using the site and they seem to be the biggest.
*Disclaimer: I don’t work for any dating sites. I’m actually happily single and blessed/humbled to have wonderful friends who feel I’m a good enough guy to introduce to their other friends 
**Just a note: This isn’t going to become a blog about dating as I don’t write about my personal relationships. My Facebook status will not be showing single, complicate, dating… nor will ever unless I start dating Jessica Alba.