Tired of superficial swipe culture? There's an app for that.
Unlike Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder, brand new online dating service S'More (which stands for "something more") prioritizes conversation over selfies. This is how it works: Users receive recommended profiles each day chosen specifically for them by an algorithm that factors in values, passions, preferences, and behaviors (ghosters beware!). Except, there's a catch: All photos of your potential matches are blurred out. The more you engage and chat with someone, the more their pictures un-blur until, voilà. There he/she/they is!
Falling for someone whose face you've never seen sounds creepy, catfish-y even, but S’More founder Adam Cohen-Aslatei says the idea was born out of a frustration people feel with the current "hot or not" swipe trend on apps. "Dating is not a beauty contest," he says. "While physical attraction is very important, it's only part of the love equation. S’More delivers on the full package.”
The idea is to encourage users to get to know a match first, before seeing what they look like. Everyone is required to verify their account with a selfie and you can link your profile to other social media accounts, photo galleries, and Apple Music playlists. Users are also limited to the number of chats they have at a time, which Cohen-Aslatei says encourages deeper conversations.
A former director for Bumble’s gay dating app Chappy, Cohen-Aslatei says S’More features a kindness score to encourage positive behavior on the app. Users are also able to interact with profiles with interactive icons and multimedia options to reflect the personality of the user. Similar to Uber, all profiles feature a public rating, which is based in-part on user behavior. The public waitlist for S’More is now open on smoredate.com.
Rose is a Senior Editor at ELLE overseeing features and projects about women's issues. She is an accomplished and compassionate storyteller and editor who excels in obtaining exclusive interviews and unearthing compelling features.
