This morning I was hanging out at Omnidate. Went on several virtual dates, some with real people, some with obvious scammers (ask me for my Yahoo email = scammer). A reporter from Colombia contacted me about the state of online dating and I invited her to Omnidate. We chatted for about 30 minutes, during which I found out a few things about Omnidate and how it is perceived. I also made out with her as you can see in the accompanying photo. That led to us discussing how virtual dates enable people to be more forward than in real life. It’s rare that I kiss a reporter while working on a story. Not so in Omnidate.
My new friend Sylvia, who writes for Semana, said the following during our date.
“You feel like in a bar with a guy although I am in the office working.”
“It is difficult not to flirt in this thing.”
“I am amazed at how real you see this.”
She was impressed, and so was I, for the most part. I attribute this partially to the fact that she and I got along well and I didn’t worry too much about her quiz answers.
However, I still have a few ongoing gripes with Omnidate, who should take this as constructive criticism, fix and move on because these are possible dealbreakers for dating sites doing due diligence on partnerships. I can’t figure out how to change the games and we were stuck in an endless loop asking each other about watching Big Brother. Can’t change the music either. Can’t buy anyone a drink, what’s up with that, we’re in a bar. That leads to why there aren’t any sponsors. The whole experience should be a giant clickable ad with more games and fact-finding features to get to know each other better. Also, the chat window is too small, I appreciate the history feature but it’s over on the side which I don’t like.
That said, once you look past the shortcomings of the avatar-driven environment, you’re pretty much chatting with someone just like on Instant messenger. The last women I had a virtual date with stuck her tongue down my throat and told me she wanted to make babies. Err, next please.
I’ll be at 6 Rounds this afternoon, come say hi.
