Dating

There are a number of no-nos on Facebook and this has to be one of them. Sandra Soroka, a New York videoblogger, posted a status update to Facebook that was her breaking up with her boyfriend (see photo below). That was a horrible decision by Sandra. Sandra ended up on the front page of Digg and began receiving an onslaught of harrasments. As Jenna Wortham points out, a series of sketchy events followed her status update and ultimately it has resulted in her pictures and social network profiles being removed.

Whether or not Sandra deleted her Flickr photos or had her account hacked, the breakup is definitely not a hoax. The lesson learned here is that breaking up with your significant other via a social network for all of your friends to see is not a socially acceptable practice. If you choose to do so and are a highly visible individual, don’t be surprised if a backlash ensues.

It’s pretty amazing that so many people are interested in the relationship status of this girl. Perhaps it’s because many have been waiting on her to become single again. Whatever the case is, Sandra has definitely learned her lesson and I’m confident that she won’t be making the same mistake again.

This weekend I was emailed about a pretty slick application for dating and flirting. After playing around with the application for a few hours I still don’t completely understand it. That’s not a bad thing though because the fact remains that I continued playing with the application for a few hours which is pretty impressive for an app. The “Human Pets” applications functions similarly to the increasingly popular ImInLikeWithYou.com. You gain points by being active on the application. Those points can then be used to bid on individuals that can eventually become your “pet.” There are currently around 65,000 people using this application but I’m guessing it will only get more popular.

Human Pets provides users with a quirky way for flirting with each other. I also noticed that a large portion of the users spend a significant amount of time browsing and bidding within the application. Some “auctions” are bidding at extremely high amounts. I’m still a little confused about how to gain more points but this application is pretty entertaining. If you want to flirt with other people on Facebook, I highly recommend that you check out the Human Pets application.

While many have begun using Facebook as the center of their business networking, many more have been using Facebook to improve their social lives, specifically as it pertains to the opposite sex. There is a plethora of new dating applications that have been popping up at a fast pace. Some of these consist of the same features as most dating sites while others have a unique twist. I came across one application yesterday that I thought was particularly interesting. Created by David Galkowski and Zak Tanjeloff, Check My Radar puts a twist on dating. It may be a somewhat complicated twist but it definitely gets points for creativity.

The application consists of 3 types of users: you, confidants and people on your radar. The concept is that when you are sitting next to someone in class, pass them in the hallway or see them at a party and share a fleeting moment during which your interest was piqued, you go back and add them to your radar. After you add them, your confidants (friends that you have granted access to your radar) will be able to see who these people are. Your confidants can also make comments and recommend other people that should be on your radar. If at any point someone on your radar adds you to their radar, you both will receive a notification.

While potentially good in theory, I think this application may be a little too complex. Are your friends really going to spend a significant amount of time on Facebook giving you advice on the right people to date? Perhaps I don’t know the Facebook demographic well enough but I don’t think this application will have widespread adoption. Especially when applications such as the Hot or Not application help making matches easy. If you want to try out this new type of Facebook courting, go grab the Check My Radar application.

I always knew my friends were sexually depraved to a certain extent. I really had no idea how true this was until I installed the Socialmoth Facebook app just now. This app allows you and your friend to post anonymous confessions to a common message board. You can see what’s said, can “add a heart” if you like the comment, but you’ll never know who said what. Here are some of the more ‘interesting’ confessions in my network right now:

They said:

“I like orgies”

“I wish I was a lesbian so I’d stop getting screwed over by guys”

“I need really good sex in my life”

“I hate it when you kiss me because i know those lips have been on another girl”

“Everything that you think makes you unattractive…I adore.”

Seems to me that A) my friends are sexually frustrated and B) Socialmoth is pretty freaky C) There’s probably some way to connect friends anonymously who are looking for the same thing…eh hem…random hookups?

Regardless, Socialmoth is a really interesting application – it’s a keep in my book. If you want to make or read other’s anonymous confessions, go grab the SocialMoth application.

Hot or Not has expanded into Facebook territory. They have developed an application that has practically all of their existing feature sets but is tied directly into Facebook profiles. You can rate a person and then check out their profile. It is truly a slick application. While Hot or Not is nothing new, this is a huge play by Hot Or Not to hopefully expand their market share. The Facebook demographic is definitely a good one to target given that the average user is relatively young. I think this is one company that can truly benefit from a Facebook presence. If you want to go rate other Facebook users, then go grab the Hot or Not application.

Enjoy browsing Facebook for potential matches? Thanks to Aryeh Goldsmith who has been churning out new applications at a furious pace, you can now save any of your favorite profiles. Simply add the Bookmark application and save their profile to your bookmarks. You can also write a note to yourself to remember who the person is. When making your note I suggest phrases such as “Beautiful Eyes”, “Big heart”, “hopeless romantic”, and other variations. Aryeh Goldsmith seems to be bent on turning Facebook into the most effective dating social network. Aryeh got in touch with me an told me that he will be releasing an application in the coming days that is going to revolutionize Facebook. I can’t wait! So if you want to keep track of all those beautiful people that you stumble across on Facebook, go grab the Bookmark application.

Aryeh Goldsmith seems to be pumping out applications like there is no tomorrow. This application is a follow-up to the matches application that lets you add a secret admirer to your profile. FBuddies is a small dating application that uses Matches as a basis to determine popularity. This was a pretty slick move. While there is already another dating application that I previously wrote about called “Hang Out With Me”, this one will probably end up much bigger given the popularity of the Matches application. Within half an hour of launching, 50 people had already signed up. The only feature that I think would be great to see is something that separates people that are under 18 and those that are 18 or older. If you are looking for an alternative dating application, check out the FBuddies application.

The popular dating site, I’m in Like With You (IILWY), has launched a Facebook application. The application displays the questions that you ask on your IILWY profile. This is a great example of integration of an outside social network within Facebook. When I checked out integration with my own profile it was fairly limited. All it does is display a random selection of games that are active on the site. It would be great if you could answer IILWY questions directly from the profile as well as display a snippet of your profile. Given that this is one of the first integrations of another social network within Facebook I can’t be overly critical, but there is definitely more that could be offered. One added benefit of installing the application is that you can sign up for the site through Facebook, whereas before the site was invite only. This will most likely provide a boost to their user base. If you are on IILWY or if you want an I’m in like with you invite, go check out the application.

Have you ever wanted a way to let others know about how bad one of your dates was so they could avoid such a bad experience? Want a way to stir some drama? This application is sure to do both. Greg Russell and Brian Michael Stack have developed an application that helps you rate friends that you have previously dated. Once other people have rated your friends you can view what people have said about them. This application is sure to stir up some drama and if drama is your cup of tea then go grab Date Rate.

IAmFreeTonight.com has released an application for Facebook that matches you up with dates and wingmen. It is a pretty slick application but currently only has a few people on it. There are definitely some downfalls to the application such as the fact that it reveals your full name and location to anyone using the application. A good upgrade would allow users to display their profiles anonymously. I have seen another application that allows you to prevent your name from showing on your profile, but it would be great if it gave a profile synopsis and possibly pictures without access to your name. Additionally, it would be great to have a feature that prevents your friends from seeing that you are using the application. Ultimately this would create an anonymous dating platform. This is definitely a great start though. So if you are looking for a date tonight and are lucky enough to live near one of the active members, go grab the “Hang Out With Me” application.