Both men and women are getting tired of dating apps. You hear it all the time, as users get frustrated with the swiping culture encourage my the most popular apps like Tinder and Hinge.
Naturally, this creates an aooportunity, and it looks like the founder of Date Drop has taken advantage of this to create something new, while also leveraging an old social media playbook.
Date Drop is an innovative, campus-focused dating tool launched at Stanford and developed by computer science graduate student Henry Weng and several cofounders. It’s basically an innovative matchmaking algorithm that works as a campus-focused dating tool. Frustrated with the superficiality of swipe-based apps like Tinder and Hinge, Weng coded the entire system in about three weeks as a side project. The algorithm emphasizes psychological compatibility over endless browsing, boasting a claimed 10x higher conversion rate to actual dates compared to traditional apps.
Initially limited to Stanford, it quickly went viral, attracting over 5,000 participants (roughly two-thirds of the university’s 7,500 undergraduates) and expanding to 10 other elite schools, including MIT, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. Many more universities will be added, and students can join the waiting list for those schools.
So Weng basically combined a new algorithm to match people, while also brilliantly borrowing the tactic that helped Facebook explode in popularity by limiting it to students with a university email. So now you have a very targeted pool of participants, while also creating some level of exclusivity.
The app has been described as creating an “all-consuming” force among Stanford undergraduates. Cofounder Madhav Prakash told The Stanford Daily: “Stanford is the best dating pool most of us will ever have in our lives . . . It would be a shame not to make the most of it.”
Of course compatability apps are never perfect, but that’s not the point. The Date Drop app is creating buzz and making it easier for student to meet one another. Young people seem to be in a rut. Many young men aren’t building their social skills, and young women are having trouble meeting men who aren’t just looking for he quick hookup. Something has to give, and Date Drop might be a tool that makes a difference.
It will be fascinating to see how this evolves. The founders seem very open to feedback, and the algorithm keeps evolving. The college model is brilliant, but can they expand beyond that at some point without ruining the experience?
We’ll see, but if you a college student, you should definitely try this!
