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Here is an idea for a dating website

1 points by silvia77 ↗ HN
At work I get to learn a little bit about a lot of industries and occasionally I get these great business ideas. Right now with my own startup I don't have time to start something else up but if anyone is interested feel free to take this idea and run with it!

Idea: Social Web Dating

Problem: I've tried a lot of internet dating websites out there and one of the best is http://www.plentyoffish.com/ . It's free, I get the best responses from people here, and it works. The only problems I have with the site are sometimes the girls pictures are very mis-representative (the classic "myspace pictures") and its difficult to build common ground before a in person date, I don't know if we have any friends in common, interests, etc.

A really good company trying to change this is Thread.com one of the fbFund winners. They want to connect dating with your facebook profile so you an see your friend connections and introduce each other to potential dates, think match making.

My only problem with this site is its not explicit that the people on there are looking for a date and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable introducing someone looking for a date to my friends.

The Business idea: So the idea is to create a site very similar to Plenty of Fish but to connect it to your facebook profile to populate all the information quickly and be able to see shared connections etc. But the catch is other users on the site won't be able to see your full profile until each person agrees. For example if I see a cute girl on the site I'll send her a message saying I would love to get to know her and ask if I can see her full facebook profile.

I already do this already, when I see someone on Plenty of Fish I want to get to know more I ask them to friend me on facebook. Then we can both see our shared connections and interests, chat on facebook, and if we both click we can go on a date.

The site would explicitly feature people looking for a date, unlike thread.com, and take advantage of all the social network features faecebook connect has to offer.

That’s the rough concept. If anyone is interested in taking this on I’d love to brainstorm with you about it and share more about the concept. Send me an email if your interested chris.r.mccann [at] gmail.com

11 comments

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swolchok
There is a much easier way to fight the MySpace angle: remember that if you can't at least see a woman's upper arm in any photo and you're on a free online dating site, you can assume that this is not due to an oversight.
byoung2
I think there is a flaw in using Facebook friend connections for a dating site. Facebook friends are not the same as real friends, since the barrier to entry usually is just recognizing the requester and clicking accept. Of the 100+ "friends" I have on Facebook, maybe 10 are real friends (defined as people I regularly talk to or hang out with in person). I wouldn't feel comfortable introducing someone to "that girl who lived down the hall from me freshman year who friended me on Facebook"
silvia77
I agree with not feeling comfortable with introducing a facebook friend to someone else, which is why I think the premise of Thread is flawed.

But as a guy looking for a date I am looking for people outside of my own network for people who have specifically stated they are looking for someone as well. Which is why I like Plenty of Fish

maxwin
I guess there is no new idea under the sun. Check this one out: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gelato_the_friendfeed_o... . It does everything you mentioned. Moreever, it pulls out information not just from your facebook but from all other networks as well.
silvia77
Thanks for pointing this site out, I'll definitely check it out!
Raphael
Just launched. I signed in and there was no one in my area yet. Looks slick, though. Hope it catches on. Facebook on its own might be an alright dating site, except for the fact that people don't expect to be solicited there, so Gelato is providing a valuable service.
jacquesm
You seem to be rather 'vision' oriented in the choice of your significant others, ("For example if I see a cute girl on the site I'll send her a message saying I would love to get to know her and ask if I can see her full facebook profile." and "The only problems I have with the site are sometimes the girls pictures are very mis-representative"), why not choose some of the people that do not have pictures in their profiles and simply converse with them ?

Who knows, you might find that the people whose exterior is unknown to you are more interesting just because you have forced yourself to look further than 'skin deep'.

silvia77
I would agree and say I am a very visual person. It's not necessarily that I'm looking purely based on looks but I like to see who I am talking with.

That being said with pictures you can tell much more than "skin deep" looks. For example you can see if they have friends, what things they like to do, if they like to party or not, etc. Facebook makes it pretty to get that kind of info quickly

jacquesm
That's borderline stalking.

People should reveal themselves to you at their pace, as they grown more comfortable, not at yours.

psyklic
Males are very vision oriented when it comes to partners. I'm not going to lie -- I'm looking for someone attractive and deep -- and I've found it usually just isn't worth the time chatting with people who aren't comfortable with putting their picture online.

You're right that there are great people who don't put their pictures online, but I've tried it and the outcome isn't usually positive from my experience (and not only on the looks front). So, I no longer chat with people without a picture any more, unless we have a LOT of other stuff in common.

The OP is definitely correct that pictures can be misleading. I'm looking for a profile that accurately tells me what someone looks like so I'm not surprised when I meet them -- professional pictures (for example) don't do this. A non-posed picture of them outdoors with friends is usually best. Now I'm not saying that a picture is everything, but I am saying that if we meet up I hope that I meet with who I'm expecting :)

Raphael
A successful strategy is to contact as many women as possible. Since women tend to be more picky than guys, let's remove the ability for guys to initiate contact. Now we have the eligible bachelor database, and there's no excuse for a lack of good guys, because they're all listed. Guys don't have to even visit the site except to edit their profile, and messages are forwarded to email.

I like the Facebook integration, because it will really cut down on the spam and speed up building the profile.