[Razengan]

Dating, matchmaking, or even just finding friends, is a perfect problem space that is just ripe for a free service to come and try to solve.

Why isn’t there a free platform for dating? (not counting the subreddits and FB groups for that, because they’re retooling something else, not built from the ground up to solve problems specific to this space).

It’s one of the biggest social issues imo, especially in cultures that restrict or repress dating in meatspace, or places with uneven demographics (e.g. there are literally millions of more men than women out there, which means that many will inevitably “die alone”)

If more people could find a suitable partner or even just compatible friends, it would make the world a much better place, if only by reducing misery (and spurring the economy :)

Why isn’t anyone else stepping in besides the wolves that just prey upon loneliness and desperation?

[Beltalowda]

meetup.com is probably the closest service; although not for dating specifically, meet enough people and sooner or later you'll meet a partner (and if you don't, you usually still have a good time). They don't do a stellar job, but it's okay.

Dating specifically is a pretty difficult problem space because of the creeps, abusers, asynchronicity of the experience of men and women, etc. This is also a problem in non-dating; for example every city where I've attended Couchsurfing meetups there was at least one "creepy guy", and almost every women I've talked to for some length had at least one story.

Plus, it also depends on the "network effect"; why is everyone on Tinder? Because everyone is on Tinder! couchsurfing.com is a badly run platform but none of the alternatives have taken off because there just aren't that many people there.

[9530jh9054ven]

Two problems I can see right off the bat.

1) Why would someone build software that sophisticated and not expected to be rewarded for their time and effort? The the amount of skill needed to determine an algorithm good enough to connect people that might be a good match for each isn't a trivial thing that one can pull a library from npm for.

2) How do you attract a large enough user base to make it effective in the first place?

[Razengan]

> Why would someone build software that sophisticated and not expected to be rewarded for their time and effort?

How are the people who built HN, Reddit, Facebook, Google, Instagram, TikTok etc. being “rewarded for their time and effort?”

Why can’t the same be done for dating?

[Dracophoenix]

Reddit, Meta, Tiktok, and Alphabet have investors and make much of their own revenue from ads. HN isn't a meet-and-greet site but a discussion forum hosted at the benefaction of YC.

What you're looking for takes enough intelligence to solve and code a solution to the optimal stopping problem, enough money to perpetually host such a system, and enough legal training and patience to comply with the legislative demands of 200 countries. Why shouldn't such a company want to be rewarded in hard currency and no just likes or gratitude?

[Dma54rhs]

Facebook does have a free dating inside their regular FB app.

[Wiseacre]

They are incentivized to maximize engagement just like Tinder. Seems like an awfully ripe place for abuse. Dating should not be handled by a for-profit company.

[HWR_14]

His question: Why isn't someone doing something to alleviate misery and a societal problem?

Provided answer: Create a Facebook account.

[hombre_fatal]

fwiw facebook does have a free dating component.

though you don’t have to pay for tinder, and certainly not to have success.