Just because America’s singles are stuck inside during Coronavirus quarantine, it doesn’t mean they don’t want to date and hold sanitized hands with a new love. Still, that doesn’t necessarily amount to a newly found desire to risk meeting people who would otherwise be better off locked up at home.
Enter Blindlee – a new social media service blending the free-flowing style of Tinder with the video function of Zoom. Blindlee sets up users on blind dates thanks to three minute blurred video calls. The two unfocused faces can instead refocus on shared chemistry or other interests before they lay eyes on each other online. After that three minutes, they can decide by mutual consent if they want to continue the connection, eye to virtual eye.
With singles locked down in quarantine, the dating app Blindlee can still send them on blind dates.
The social media app is the idea of two 20-something entrepreneurs, Sacha Nasan and Glenn Keller. They’ve seen an increase in app usage, even with people who don’t necessarily want to find romance. Nasan reports their data shows 22% of Blindlee users make calls to find friends for moral support and solidarity during social distancing.
“Comparing to February, we saw a 57% increase in March signups due to the outbreak,” Nasan says. “This figure is now at 126%. Blurred video calls are up nearly three times and the average number of matches per user has increased by almost 180%. Users can only match after the call.”
Blindlee’s biggest bounce blew up in the U.K., but Nasan confirms the app is gaining steam in America, too.
The dating app Blindlee allows for virtual blind dates online by blurring the images of singles.
Nasan and Keller laid out Blindlee poll results on how social media users are interacting with their app. Of 162 people surveyed, 94 people (58%) hoped to meet their blind date opposite number in person as soon as the world opens for business again.
Some 22% said they used Blindlee for solidarity and moral support, or just to have someone to talk to in lonely lockdown. Finally, 17% said they were using Blindlee simply because they were “bored.”
