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Ask HN: Startup Idea - Dating with anonymous profiles

2 points by unohoo ↗ HN
In regards to the #8 (Dating) from list of ideas posted by PG: http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html

here's an idea.

have a dating site where users register, fill in profile, upload avatar etc. - but when they search for other profiles, the results are presented in an anonymous manner - so, for instance, instead of displaying avatars of users, display a default image. List only some aspects of the users profile (like interests / profession) and let users decide based on that if a certain profile seems interesting. If so, they can connect and only then, the avatar and other details are shown.

The fact that the photos /avatars are hidden can both serve as a pro and a con.

A con because profile pictures/photos are one of the most engaging aspects of such a site.

The upside of this approach will be that it will encourage only serious daters and at the same time limit folks from deciding based solely on physical appearance.

I'm just thinking out loud here, but would like to know what you think about it. If such a service already exists, my bad for posting this.

7 comments

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icey
This is just what my first impression of the idea is: A dating site where you hide the user's pictures sounds like a dating site for ugly people.

I think people care about how someone looks, whether they want to admit it or not. I think you're going to have a tough road to user acquisition if people invest their time trying to get to know someone online and then don't like the other user's appearance for one reason or another.

unohoo
thanks. I'm not implementing this idea. Was more of an ouptut of a brainstorming session.
icey
I think it's got some interesting aspects to it; but it's one of those types of ideas that would have to be executed perfectly and have a really good hook for getting users to join. Unfortunately, the answer to that usually including pictures.
_pius
I believe that a lot of the sites that put a lot of emphasis on matching algorithms and compatibility (e.g. eHarmony, Chemistry) already de-emphasize the picture aspect quite a bit.

I'll be honest, I have absolutely no interest in a site that eliminates physicality as an aspect I can use to determine the likelihood that someone may be a good match for me.

noodle
i'm just kind of throwing this out there, since its similar. feel free to take any ideas and use them (just give me a high five if you use them):

i was mulling over the idea of a dating site that was more anonymous/private than the standard version. no searching allowed, no direct profile access allowed.

you're given a list of maybe 5 profiles that the site thinks you might like. you're required to interact directly (email style messages only) with at least one of them, and then give anonymous, private feedback on that person. the feedback is used to generate new, better matches, improve the algorithm, and weed out people who are spammers/jerks/etc.. you don't get new matches until you interact with people both ways, initiating with people on your list and responding to someone who has you on their list.

messages work somewhat like tokens. you get X number to start, they replenish over time, but sending a message costs you 1 token, and receiving a message gives you 1 token. this prevents spam, mass "lol ur hot" messages, encourages you to interact with people in a way that warrants them talking back to you, and encourages you to respond to people that you might not have been so hasty to respond to on other sites. but it still gives you the leeway to ignore people.

this is just a very brief bar napkin overview of something different from the standard way of doing things. thoughts?

lhorie
This is not exactly the same, but I remember seeing a service in the news a few years ago where they would match scholars and geeks (e.g. you could look specifically for ornithologists, if you're a bird geek). It's not exactly anonymous, but the main focus was on areas of (very specific) interest, rather than physical appearance.
byoung2
I think the bigger question with dating sites is the chicken/egg question, as mentioned in the yc ideas post. How are you going to get people to that site in the first place.

I have a lot of ideas for innovative takes on dating sites, but I can't think of a good way to get people there besides making it a Facebook app.