With somewhere around 350-million people around the world using dating apps, you’d think it would be pretty easy to find potential love interests on one, but those superficial split-second decisions to swipe left or right don’t necessarily lead to good matches. They make users quickly judge a book by its cover as they glance at a photo and skim a bio, which leaves many frustrated with “swipe fatigue” and surface-level interactions. But a new dating app is hoping to change all that by not letting you see users’ faces at first.
It’s called Tribal and it was created by clinical psychologist Rachel Harker to encourage singles to focus on more than what someone looks like so they can form deeper, more meaningful connections. “Judging a person purely by their photo has fostered a culture of objectification and self-surveillance that isn’t healthy or sustainable,” she says. “I kept thinking there must be a better way to use technology to connect people in a more positive, authentic, and meaningful way.”
And that’s when Harker got the idea for Tribal, which is both a friendship-finding app and a dating platform. Here’s how it works:
- Users are matched based on shared values, interests and communication styles after answering 44 questions for Tribal Dating and 33 for Tribal Friendship.
- But what makes it really different is that it blurs users’ profile photos for 72 hours.
- During that time, they can hear their match’s voice with a voice memo feature, which helps add a layer of human connection on top of text-based chats.
- The idea is that singles will form deeper, more meaningful first-impressions without seeing each other’s faces right off the bat.
- “True connections will last, but looks fade,” Harker explains. “Let’s prioritize personality, values, humor, voice and vibe before visuals take over.”
Source: NY Post