Dating App LoveFlutter Covers Users' Faces, Hosts Paper Bag Speed Dating
— -- Call 2014 the year of mobile dating. With 30 million accounts and counting on Tinder, people are relying on dating apps more than ever to hook up, but one dating app is trying to go beyond sexy selfies – by covering users’ faces.
The app, LoveFlutter, has been dubbed the so-called "anti-Tinder" (Tinder does show profile pics). LoveFlutter users find matches based on 140-character blurbs, which the company calls #QuirkyFact, before their photos are revealed -- to create an account, users also have to take a "QI" or "Quirky Interesting" Test.
And LoveFlutter has taken anonymous dating one step further with hosting special speed-dating events where participants wear paper bags over their heads.
The founders say the idea is to have sparks fly based on personality instead of looks.
“The paper bag is such a plain thing; it levels the playing field,” LoveFlutter co-founder David Standen said.
LoveFlutter’s motto is #SayNoToShallow, and paper bag speed daters are encouraged to display their personalities and thoughts about themselves on their bags with doodles and written messages. Daters keep track of their “likes” and “passes” on a form. If it’s a mutual “like,” LoveFlutter will connect the daters later via email.
Although when “Nightline” recently attended one of their speed-dating events in New York City, it didn’t seem that many couples mingled after the paper bags came off. But LoveFlutter’s creators are optimistic that online daters can get beyond a pretty face.
“We’ve yet to see the first paper bag marriage but, hopefully, that comes soon,” co-founder Daigo Smith said.
LoveFlutter is free, but is currently on iOS devices and Web only, with an Android app coming soon, according to the company’s website.
