A new dating app wants users to put brains before beauty.
Willow, the latest entrant in the vast world of digital dating platforms, seeks to put the emphasis on less superficial ideals when it comes to finding a potential life partner. Forget how hot they look in jeans, Willow wants you to focus on personality. Via Elle:
Rather than swipe through images of potential mates or read curated personality profiles, Willow begins the dating experience through faceless questions. Its tag line: “Branch Out.”
“What I realized was missing from a dating app, or an app that is meant to be social, was an actual conversational aspect,” said 23-year-old Willow founder Michael Bruch. “I wanted to create an app that got people talking.”
“We were tired of new apps claiming to connect people in meaningful ways, only to find yet another bland, repackaged version of ‘Hot or Not’ hitting the market,” the company explains via statement on its website. “We wanted a positive way to get people engaged, talking, and getting to know one another.”
But if I can’t shallowly judge someone based on a few brief seconds staring at a profile pic, HOW WILL I EVER FIND TRUE, MEANINGFUL LOVE? you’re probably asking yourself right now. With Willow, the concept is similar to other dating apps such as Tinder, but instead of deciding who to select or turn down based on physical attraction, the new app forces you to interact with them before you actually know what they look like (“Talk first – Reveal photos later,” as the company puts it).