I’ve only used Medium to read, write, and get inspired. However, recently I have read some flirty comments that made me realize that Medium interests some single people.
Here’s why: It’s a non-dating app with the potential of connecting people beyond its sole purpose — dating. Just like other social media platforms, Medium is still growing and hence all of its potentials is not yet discovered. (After all, Medium is just 8 years old.)
As a reference, Amanda Bradford, an ex-Googler, founded an app called The League… 15 years after Linkedin’s birth to allow single professionals to find dates using their Linkedin profiles.
I am not surprised that even ride-sharing apps like Uber bring people together who hit it off and end up dating. A few years ago, a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer profiled a now-engaged couple who met in an UberPOOL.
I’ve never met anybody that I connect with on so many different levels, and I credit Uber for that” the man said.
I even know someone who found his boyfriend while playing Pokémon Go. In 2016, when Pokémon became a global phenomenon, a friend of mine who lives in Castro district was going home after a long day of catching ’em all. He saw a good-looking guy on his phone walking in the neighborhood. They walked up to each other, and the rest is history.
We could expect that in a not-so-far future — and if it hasn’t happened already — someone finds a partner or gets laid using Medium. After all the Uber and Pokémon Go love stories, this is quite normal and of course, predictable.
I get why some might use Medium to find dates
Have you ever been on a date with someone, you feel the flow, it’s going all good until they mention something about themselves that changes your entire opinion of them?
Well, that’s going to happen slightly less often now, because people can directly search for your name on Medium. Sounds kinda crazy, but it makes sense; Now Medium is just another source to get a little bio information about someone and see if they’re right for you- no harm in that.
Honest profiles
Unlike Tinder, Medium has honest profiles. When you visit someone’s dating profile, you never know what’s real or factual and what’s not; they’re there to get a date, and people will embellish at length to get what they want. Things are a little different when it comes to Medium. Checking out someone’s writing history can give you an idea of who they are as a partner.
No fake accounts
Dating sites are chock-full of bots and fake accounts, but it doesn’t make much sense to have a fake account here on Medium.
You know they’re serious people capable of commitment
Some people are on Medium because they’re serious about reading, writing, and advancing themselves in any way they can. They’re also capable of commitment. Yeah… that writer that you really like is a Medium member since April 2018, has been writing non-stop, and is a top writer in your favorite tags! How wonderful is that?
You might have seen the “LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tinder” challenge on social media earlier this year. For this challenge users had to compile four profile images of themselves corresponding to what they would post on these respective social media platforms.
While Facebook and Instagram profiles can sometimes look similar, there is a striking distinction between the kind of pictures people would use on the business networking platform LinkedIn and the dating app Tinder.
Medium images similar to LinkedIn images usually tend towards compelling, professional headshots. It is clear people innately understand the difference in the purposes of these platforms.
The clinical separation of different platforms does not always work out so cleanly in real life. And sometimes because we are so very extremely online, our dating, professional, and social worlds inevitably collide with each other.
Ultimately, a natural bond that begins through Pokémon Go or any other non-dating platform is mostly a natural byproduct of lives lived online.
And by the way, as it becomes a cute thing and a new norm for people — especially for the swipe-right generation — to use non-dating apps for dating, there will be also more trust and opportunities for meeting the next romantic interest anywhere online without swiping on Tinder.
More reads from me:
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