Online dating sucks, and is hard to solve, because real-world dating sucks, and is hard to do, unless the following applies:<p>- You're attractive<p>- You're a social person<p>- Both 1 and 2<p>You can be an attractive person, but shy, and still get dates pretty easily. You can be just average looking, but very social and outgoing, and still get dates pretty easily. If you have both, the world is likely your oyster. These types of people generally never visit dating websites, because they don't need to.<p>With that in mind, we can conclude the following:<p>- Dating websites are mostly full of people who do not apply to the list above (e.g. unattractive introverts).<p>- There are still of course attractive and social people using these sites for various reasons, but they are the minority.<p>- Some of those reasons that minority exists may be because they have "issues", and regardless of being attractive and/or social, have trouble maintaining lasting relationships offline.<p>This means we have a mix of unattractive introverts not only mixing with each other, but mixing with attractive extroverts who are unstable in relationships. Then you have the "sausage fest" factor that has already been mentioned in the comments tossed into the mix, along with some dating websites simply being really, really bad (the only good one I can think of, which still has all of these problems, is OkCupid). This all sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.<p>My theory on what might actually work, and how online dating needs to evolve:<p>- In my experience, my best relationships have been a product of serendipity. You can filter through potential matches all you want, use data to try and find that perfect someone, but 9 times out of 10 when you actually meet, you'll feel absolutely no spark or connection, even if you both love all the same things. It's that spark that matters, and I've never experienced this through anything but a serendipitous encounter.<p>- The actual problem is that we shouldn't be sitting in front of our computers looking for potential mates. We should be out finding them, in real life, where the interactions actually matter, and serendipity can do its thing.<p>- This means we're trying to solve the WRONG problem. We're trying to make dating websites better. Instead, let's make it easier to get out of the house, and do the best we can to "engineer serendipity", or at least put you in situations where it's more likely to take place.<p>- While I'm not going to plan out an entire solution here, it would likely involve some of the following: It has a mobile aspect, it involves overlapping friend circles (think degrees of separation, or how you'd meet a match at a wedding or dinner party), it involves social events and situations, and it's built in a way that is perceived as safe, non-creepy, and by people who understand real world social situations and complexities (i.e. not made by the introverts who can't date without a website).<p>At the end of the day, we need a solution that helps you easily put yourself into social situations you wouldn't otherwise be in, and replicates what happens and actually works in the real world, without feeling creepy or forced.