Former OkCupid Data Scientist Interviews Hinge Founder About The Future Of Online Dating

Two weeks ago, the founder of dating app Hinge, Justin McLeod, gave his thoughts on the future of online dating at a recent conference.

In attendance was former OkCupid Software Engineer and Data Scientist Dale Markowitz, who subsequently interviewed McLeod about his predictions for the future of dating.

During the chat, McLeod argues that singles don’t believe in algorithms that “know their Meyers-Briggs type and what type of ketchup they buy”.

Rather than use algorithms, instead, Hinge aims to surface “as much as we can about a person” to help their members decide whether they might like someone.

And he believes that despite the massive size of apps like Tinder and Bumble, there is a demand for a modern relationship-orientated dating service.

He said: “There’s certainly a group of people who don’t like dating apps, and I’ve seen some data that says their antipathy toward dating services has only increased over time. Before, they thought, “not for me.” Now they’re like, “I would never touch that.”

“I hope we can make the technology more accessible by making the technology a bit more humane. If we can show that apps can help you find authentic connection even better than you can in the real world, maybe we pull some of those people back into it.”

Read the full interview here.