Spoke with Steve Odom about what’s going on at Gelato, on of the first social dating sites to implement Facebook Connect to simplify the profile creation process. Authenticity and simplicity are paramount. Like many entrepreneurs, Steve was divorced, didn’t like dating sites, so he built the site he wanted to use and launched September 2009. Dating sites need critical mass, Gelato, like all dating sites, needs more people. Same goes for it’s closest competitor, Thread.
Gelato is a niche dating site for early-adopters. They’re on Twitter and Foursquare. Women like it. Average age is 34.
Features:
Public messaging and comments. Ask questions, have them answered, like OKCupid.
Flickr photos, music from Last.fm, mine your social networks to bring in your tastes and preferences. LinkedIn integration – your work is important. No publicly identifiable link back to account.
Endorsements: invite Facebook friends to endorse you Gelato profile. Confirmed Twitter followers and friends of friends on Facebook are able to leave short comment on your profile.
Steve showed me several new features which will be rolling out shortly.
New Find features: Grid view of photos, roll-over to see info about person.
Many dating sites are doing this. PlentyofFish especially, which has turned into one big photo display site. Show me people, let me decide which profile I want to view. Take the complexity out of the equation, just view, click and connect. Not that this is very effective, but people seem to prefer this type of browsing.
Next big push will be recommendations and compatibility.
