DuoDater site: He brings friend, she brings friend

DuoDater.com

Not sure you want to go ahead and meet that guy in person that you met online, even if you are going to a public place to do so? A newly launched website, DuoDater, hopes to make your online dating travails a little easier by offering strength in numbers, and giving you a partner for checking out potential partners.

"Scout out matches and let a friend vet your suitors and you theirs," DuoDater.com says on its site. "Friends don't let friends date dopes, and two heads are better than one ... not to mention four."

The site, limited for now to the San Francisco Bay Area, is free to use, and "is perfect for men and women in their 20s and 30s who are looking to meet singles without the doubt and formalities that burden traditional online dating sites," the company said in a press release announcing the service Monday. You can form "up to six duos" just to give yourself some variety in your dating buddies.

The co-founders, Michael Parikh and Andrew Flachner, say on the site that they "believe traditional online dating is intimidating, boring, and often disappointing."

"The site offers 'Duo Profiles' that only require users to write a few sentences about themselves individually, so that the main attraction is turned to creating a joint description that the pair of daters can work on together to fill out," Tech Crunch said in a story about the service:

Flachner said that, so far, DuoDater’s users have found this a less problematic and more enjoyable approach to dating profiles.

The founders also think that their model provides a higher level of accountability than is typically inherent to solo dating, as users are less likely to use trick photo angles and exaggerated or romanticized descriptions when they know a close friend will see it and may call them on it.

"Life is more fun with a friend, so why should online dating be any different?" the founders say on their website. And if you're having trouble wrapping your head around the idea, think of it simply this way, they say: "It's a date — but less formal and more social."

— Via Mashable

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