Just when it seemed like we’d reached our saturation point for niche online dating apps, another called LinkedUp has just been thrown into the mix. Like many dating apps, this one connects with one of your other social media accounts for ease of access; unlike, say, Tinder, though, it doesn't use Facebook. No, LinkedUp uses your LinkedIn profile to play matchmaker for you — which, frankly, I think is the worst idea ever.
According to CLTampaBay’s Bed Post blog, LinkedUp creates your dating profile by pulling photos and basic biographical information from your LinkedIn profile. It lets you see where matches are from, where they went to school, and — perhaps most importantly — what they do for a living. Otherwise, it works pretty much like Tinder; you can like or pass profiles, and if two people like each other, they can start chatting immediately.
As the Daily Dot points out, LinkedUp likely makes it easier for men and women to find matches if they want a partner who works in a specific field; furthermore, on top of possibly making you look more polished to potential matches, it makes it a lot harder for anyone to lie about their occupation or income level. But as someone who prefers to keep her dating life and work life separate, I just don’t see the draw.
I’ll confess that I don’t keep my LinkedIn profile as up to date as I should; I find it difficult to believe that any social network is the magical key to landing your dream job quickly and easily, so it’s just never been a super high priority for me. That said, though, I do make an effort to reserve LinkedIn solely for professional purposes — because that’s what it’s made for. It would never even occur to me to use it to find a date; why on earth would you want to risk your professional reputation for the sake of a night out? I can’t think of anything less professional than using a site geared to keeping you employed for finding your next one-night stand.
Maybe that’s just me, though. If LinkedUp sounds like the greatest idea in the history of online dating to you, you can connect with its 259 million users by downloading it for free. At least you probably won't have to worry about creepers like these sending you super questionable messages, right?
