If you think you’d like to be young and single again, better think twice.
The whole process of dating and mating has been reduced to a game, literally. Last month the Match Group, Tinder’s parent company, introduced “Crown,” which is the dating equivalent to the “Sweet 16” in basketball.
Every day, the algorithm sends you 16 possible love interests in eight pairs. You choose the one you like best in each pairing. Now you have four pairs of eight matches. You keep winnowing down the options until you “crown” the winner.
If you’ve both crowned each other, you have the option of starting a conversation and meeting up. If not, you’ll get another 16 tomorrow.
I recruited Beth, 34, an inveterate dater, to try this new app and report back on the results. As it turns out not all the matches were made in heaven.
One of them invited her to a party:
“I’m going to DJ, but before I go on, we can use the bouncy house for an hour. Also, there’ll be a Mariachi band and free food.”
She was also matched with someone who said he had his Google history erased (can you do that?) to hide the fact that he spent a stint in rehab.
Despite a few clinkers, Beth says she like the feature of getting only 16 options compared with the older Tinder App, which overwhelmed you with choices.
“It’s fun. It feels like a sport, not just dating, says Beth, who has spent time on Tinder, OK Cupid, JSwipe, JDate, Coffee Meets Bagel and Match.
In the four weeks she was on Crown, Beth had lots of match-ups but none she was willing to date — in or out of a bouncy house.
In my opinion, dating and mating were a lot easier when you met your “intended” in school, at work or at an old fashioned seven-step program. Let me know if you agree or not.
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