I recently had an unusual freelance writing gig. My job was to log into a guy's online dating profile and send messages to girls I believed he would find attractive. I basically got paid to start conversations for him. I perused about a hundred female dating profiles each day for a month.
Last night, I adjusted my profile. I followed the advice in the WSJ article and toned down the job things, concentrating on what I like to do when I'm not working. I spoke about being driven by curiosity rather than ambition. I headed with my love of traveling, lattes, and wine. I talked about cooking and eating out.
By the early Noughties, everybody knew Real Human Beings who had met other Normal People online. Guardian Soulmates didn't have a 'secret sauce', but it brought together people who read the same newspaper. There was no way that Match and eHarmony, the frumpy juggernauts of internet dating, could satisfy the myriad tribes of humanity.
Many dating apps provide a page of information for users to protect themselves. But here's the thing: A page simply suggesting that consumers meet in a public space makes me question whether the technology wizards and programmers behind these apps are truly taking the maximum action to better protect women and all users. One needn't look further than their blocking capabilities.