Online dating could probably be implemented with federated technolgies.
Are there any projects that are already working on this?
There are some open source dating apps, but they are mostly Tinder clones. It would probably make more sense to reimplement something like old OkCupid, where it’s mechanics and systems worked more for the benefit of the userbase.
I’m aware of a couple FOSS dating apps but they’re not federated. None are popular either. The problem is that dating apps really need a good influx of new users and a strong population for all of the positive network effects to keep going as people stop using the app. The fediverse is still pretty niche [citation needed] so building an app that does well isn’t going to be helped by putting “it’s federated” front and centre. Personally, I think it makes sense to focus on making a good dating app (like one with a good questionnaire akin to OkCupid) first and then adding federation later once the minimum features are functional. Unfortunately that makes federation hard, because it’d be a centralized platform with some inertia at that point.
I think #Fedidate and similar Mastodon tags are probably the better solution at this point. Or the significantly better option of meeting people irl.
Damn, a constructive answer contributing to the discussion
It would only make sense at eg. a fediverse-con where there’s a lot of enthusiastic fediversists and they’d all be willing to use it at once in the same location.
Good idea! Anybody want to start a team to build a working app for the next FediCon?
