What if a dating app allowed only ONE active match at a time?

I've been thinking about how most dating apps work today. You can match with multiple people, have several conversations, and keep swiping even after finding a potential connection.

There's also a common perception that some men struggle to get matches, while some women receive a large number of matches and messages. I wonder whether the way dating apps encourage continuous matching contributes to this experience.

So I was thinking about a different approach:

  1. Once you match with someone, you can't receive new matches. You focus on getting to know that person.
  2. Want to match with someone else? You have to unmatch your current connection first.

The goal would be to stop collecting matches and start building one connection at a time.

Would you use a dating app like this? What do you think would be the biggest problem with this model?

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Comments

globaldesi•24 days ago•13

That’s what coffee meets bagel was way back when I met my husband in 2014. Only one option a day and then you moved on. That was their main selling point when they went on shark tank, along with the fact that they matched you with people who had mutuals with you.

I have no idea what the model is right now for Coffee Meets Bagel but suffice to say there is a reason it’s no longer what they’re doing.

ResilientSJ•24 days ago•5

Retention would tank the second someone gets bored or ghosted, since unmatching is the only exit and that friction just pushes people to delete the app entirely instead of sticking around.

BigBigBowser•24 days ago•3

You get matches?

allusernamesaretakan•22 days ago•2

just make it. stop asking for permission

i had this idea 3 years ago, i told people about it. they said it was stupid, so i never made it

just do it man. it is a good idea

Darling-dada•21 days ago•2

I think this is a smart idea to limit the illusion of choice. But I think 1 is too restrictive. Maybe 3 or 5 max at a time.

krantisdead•24 days ago•2

too slow

DesertStorm480•24 days ago•2

Nice in theory, but if people were not picky enough as it is......

InVegasMyLove•22 days ago•2

This is how I use Hinge. In the beginning, I tried matching with 10+ at once and ended up ignoring and missing possible chances with some because I couldn't keep up with conversations. Or I'd end up with a situation where I'd get a date scheduled for my only available time that week, and then I wouldn't know what to tell the others. It was just too much, so I match with one person and focus on them now. If they aren't responsive or don't seem interested, I quickly unmatch and move on to the next.

I'd definitely be interested in an app where this was the standard approach.

0oilllIIo0•21 days ago•1

I think this model would make women opt out of dating apps. I have sometimes thought of a less strict model of max 100 matches at a time, and you have to unmatch some to make room for new ones. And perhaps up to 5 active conversations allowed at one time.

This would create a reasonable experience, even for the popular ones.

NotCryptoKing•23 days ago•1

They do. Cuffed is like that.

Nice try using ChatGPT for this idea OP. A bit too late there

Trust me, whatever idea you or gpt has had, someone else has had it

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