Dating App Replaces Profile Pics With Video Chats

Let’s be real, how many of us spend way too much time obsessing over our online dating profile picture? That would probably be all of us. It's your first impression as to whether or not you’re in the swipe left or swipe right category. So, there isn’t any shame in admitting that you probably spend a lot more time crafting up the perfect profile photo than you should. Everyone out there seems to have an opinion on how to take the best profile photo, what you should and shouldn’t wear on it, which types of photos are most effective, and so on. Regardless of all that, you just want a picture that can perfectly sum up who you are in one snapshot. But as we all know, that’s not exactly easy. Because dating profile photos have a tendency to be overly flattering, completely misleading, or worst of all, fake, a newly launched dating app, at First Sight allows you to meet people straight away through 60 second video chats and lets you skip all the hassle of profile photos.

“Your Beauty is Beyond Pictures,” is the official slogan of the at First Sight app. Developers of the app recognized that some people either a.) Don’t always photograph well or b.) Keep retouching until they don’t even recognize themselves. Because of that, the team behind the app dedicated themselves to replacing mobile dating based on photo matches.

The at First Sight team director said

“Looking for someone special in a page full of perfect-looking profile pictures is just exhausting, especially when you know that the real person behind the profile may be startlingly different from who he says he is. This could be extremely discouraging for new users of online dating sites.”

Here’s how it works:

To begin, you’ll need a Facebook account, just to make sure you’re a real person and that you’re chatting with real people as well. Then you can “Seek” out people for a 60 second video chat or “Wait” for video calls. During the chat, you and the other person have 60 seconds to decide whether it’s a “Like” or a “Pass.” If you both like each other, it’s a match and you can continue chatting without any time limits. If it’s a “Pass,” be nice and say you’re not interested before hitting “Pass.” Or, if neither of you like nor pass during those 60 seconds, the app will start a brand new search.

Since the app uses video streaming, users are able to gain a real picture of the true person they’re speaking with, which allows for real chemistry to happen. Definitely a lot different than mindlessly swiping through a bunch of overly photoshopped photos.

As the website states,

“We believe in love at first sight, firmly… However, we find that, people in the real world have less time, less confidence or less patience to find their love at first sight. We also find that, the picture-based dating apps seem to not have the capacity to enable us to express our true selves and to make any eye contact with each other when we meet someone for the first time.”

Overall, it’s a pretty neat concept. It definitely makes online dating feel less like online dating when you can skip all the profile creation nonsense and go straight to the connecting. Besides, creating that perfect profile takes a ton of work. You definitely want to come off as interesting and attractive, but at that the same time stay true to who you really are. For people seriously looking for love, it’s also a great way to eliminate any heartbreaking catfishing scams that they could potentially fall into.

However, for people on the shy side, skipping straight to the 60 second video chat may be more daunting than easing your way in through initial back and forth messaging. Regardless of how you want your online dating experience to go, there’s no shortage of platforms out there for you to choose. This is just another option out there.

Images: markgranitz/Flickr; at First Sight; joquz/Tumblr