["There's only so much you can do with data," said Susan Etlinger, a research
analyst at the Altimeter Group who advises companies on how best to use
technology. ... There’s nothing, literally nothing, like the real thing. ]
Technology | Business Day | Personal Tech
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 For the latest updates, go to
nytimes.com/bits »
Daily Report
Online Dating Services Go Retro | Online dating services have long
promised to help people find a mate by using statistical science to predict
personal chemistry. But some of the biggest services are now adding a retro
twist, Jenna Wortham reports in Wednesday's New York Times.
Several sites are bringing people together the old-fashioned way,
with singles parties where people can crowd together at bars while consuming
alcohol and flirting.
"There have been so many times I've met up with someone from the
Internet in person and didn't feel a spark," said Emily Clapp, who was at a
recent beer-tasting event organized by the popular dating site OkCupid in a
basement bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. "It's so disappointing to
invest all that time e-mailing and then... nothing."
Like many others, Ms. Clapp says the offline events can help
identify a potential date more quickly. Online, they find they can spend weeks
or months exchanging messages with someone and then schedule dinner or drinks -
only to realize within minutes that the date is a dud.
"There's only so much you can do with data," said Susan Etlinger, a
research analyst at the Altimeter Group who advises companies on how best to
use technology. "There's always the unknown that has to do with pheromones and
human nature."
But why do you need to sign up for a dating site to meet someone in
a bar? Ms. Clapp, a 31-year-old tax accountant, said that the sites acted as a
filter, making it more likely that the other attendees were also single,
looking for romance and not too creepy. But inevitably, she said, "it's a
little more random than regular online dating."
In a video report with the article, users of a dating app called
MeetMoi gather at a bar in Brooklyn and talk about the online-offline dating
experience.
-------------------------------------------
AGI
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-c97d2393
Modify Your Subscription:
https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-2484a968
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
