Dating apps are out- “dated”. They match us with people totally wrong for us, not least because they live over 100 miles away… it can feel tiresome at best. Our dating app “Swanline dating” effectively cuts through the endless cycle of swiping, matching and chatting by creating a dating platform exclusive to Swansea University students.
A majority of dating apps do boast strengths of their own. So, how does Swanline Dating revolutionise these repetitive practices?
- Singles at YOUR university
When it comes to finding love in the mobile age, it’s hard to topple Tinder, one of the biggest and arguably most popular dating apps. Tinder throws a large net out into the dating ocean and catches any fish that happens to swim in. But what if you don’t want any fish? More specifically… what if you desire a swan? (excuse the cheesy pun).
Our app shrinks the size of this “net”, keeping it exclusive to those studying at Swansea University… which we may be biased in calling the best dating ocean of all.
The app boasts three main chat channels in which singles at Swansea University can converse. These are labelled “Bays” (for baes on Bay campus), “Singles” (for singles on Singleton Campus) and Swans (well, somewhat less wittily because it’s Swansea University-based).
Nonetheless, private chats are available to allow you to engage in a one-on-one conversation with whoever catches your eye in these three main chat channels.
- Your very own wingman
From 20:00-23:00 every night, one of our co-creators acts as a sort of “wingman” in these channels, helping to keep an ongoing flow of engaging conversation.
- Active users
“Ghosting” is perhaps one of the worst phenomena present in mobile dating. The pain of messaging someone and receiving no response hurts. We’ve all been there, and if we haven’t, I’m sure we don’t want to be.
An issue we had with other dating apps, was how frequently users could fall victim to such a phenomenon.
However, in organising “speed dating events”, we match you with other active users, meaning that responses are guaranteed.
Furthermore, since you are matched with someone every five minutes within the hour-long event, even if one person isn’t quite taking your fancy, you’ll be matched with another user. These occur weekly, giving you the power to continuously improve your dating prospects.
- Effortless conversations
As Rizzle Kicks once said, “let’s skip to the good bit”. We found that whilst conversations may eventually flow, often even though both parties are interested, neither make the first move. So, we do the hard part for you.
We prompt a topic of discussion in all three main channels and the weekly speed dating events. This can be anything from “What is the best condiment?” to “What shape do you cut your sandwiches? Triangles? Or rectangles?”
Whether your answer is obvious or controversial (we see you rectangular sandwich lovers), the conversation is off to a great start, and the most challenging part is out of the way.
- The ability to make a difference
The app was conceptualised by Emma Morton, Oluwakemi Olaitan, Odelia Garcia, Alex Young, Celyn Marsh, Amandine Badea and Emilia Thomas under the guidance of Cris Izura and with the creative help of Neil Carter. This was in aid of a third-year and masters psychology project intending to collect data on the language used by online daters and compare this to the language use of online groomers.
Although the thought of others reading your online conversations may sound jarring, all the data is anonymised when extracted from the app, meaning that as researchers, we have no idea who is chatting to who.
Furthermore, in granting us access to your conversations, you are making a huge difference in the field of academic research!
We hope that the study’s results could aid the potential development of a linguistic profile specific to online groomers, which would ultimately aid law enforcement in detecting online grooming with increased reliability and efficiency.
So, by signing up for the app, you are empowered to find love whilst simultaneously making a difference.
Convinced that this is the right dating platform for you? Start your dating journey using the link below!
http://psy.swansea.ac.uk/WebQuest/Swanline-dating/
(A massive thank you to Cris Izura and Neil Carter, who’s constant guidance, support and problem solving, has enabled us to tackle our final year project and enjoy the process.)
