Match launches new location-based missed connections feature
Striking up conversations with people you see at your local coffee shop sounds easy, but it can actually be pretty intimidating. Dating app Match is trying to make it a little easier with Missed Connections, a new feature they're launching today.
It works by showing you people you’ve crossed paths with IRL that are also well-suited to you in other ways. It relies on location data from your phone (don’t worry, you have to opt-in, it won’t start tracking you automatically) and then shows you other users who’ve recently been in close proximity to you.
While we all love to know as much as we can about potential mates, Match CEO Mandy Ginsberg told Mashable this isn’t just about giving you more information: "The whole point is starting these relationships out in the real world."
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She explained that if you’re living in a certain area, frequenting a specific cafe or music venue, you’re likely to have something to talk about with others who are doing the same thing. Users who tried Missed Connections in the company’s test markets had two times the amount of conversations as those not using the feature.
Of course, there are already a number of dating apps that rely on your location, obviously. So what’s your incentive to use yet another one?
Ginsberg says that the difference in their product is that they use their finely-honed matching algorithms on top of location data. You’re not just seeing who goes to the same Starbucks as you, you’re seeing people who are compatible with you on many levels. Match profiles are also far more detailed than, say, Tinder’s are. So location is just one tidbit on top of a lot of other modes you’ve got to evaluate someone.
The obvious concern here, or anytime your location is revealed, is the creepy stalker factor. But Ginsberg told Mashable that Match has been obsessed about making the feature as safe and secure as possible -- especially for women. The first layer of protection is that your location data is not revealed in real-time. Other users can only see where you’ve been in the past. Hence the name: Missed Connections.
There is also a robust blocking feature that's very easy to find and use. The reports are monitored constantly, and users who are flagged are immediately booted out of the system. They can only be reinstated after their case has been reviewed for safety.
Match says the steps it has taken to make users feel secure seem to have paid off. In their test markets of Dallas and San Francisco, they’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm for the product. More than two-thirds of people opted in, and women are opting in the same rate as men and using it and initiating conversations as well.
It remains to be seen whether “I can see from this app that you come here often" will replace the classic “Come here often?” But if nothing else, when that guy or girl who you always see at the bar pops up in your Missed Connections, you'll now have an readymade way to chat them up.
Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.
