Ever found yourself questioning the accuracy of Cupid's aim when it comes to online dating? If you have, you are not alone. Although these sites (i.e. eHarmony, Match.com, etc) boast more than 37 million users, respectively, the apparent randomness and lack of reliable background information on potential matches is enough to make anyone a little gun-shy.
Is A Date Included In My Job Package?
In a surprising turn of events, the cyber-dating world did get a bit of good news — a ray of matchmaking hope, if you will — when the popular professional networking platform and job site LinkedIn also launched an online dating app called, you guessed it, LinkedUp.
So if you're looking to hook a smart, successful partner to complement that fancy new job of yours, it looks like LinkedUp is the place to go fishing.
Are People Actually Using LinkedUp?
How popular is this new dating resource? Well, CEO Max Fischer, isn't parting with those user stats quite yet, but he does admit this idea had both humble and practical beginnings.
Fischer and his friends actually began having off-the-clock social success within the pool of LinkedIn's 300 million professional users. How did they pull this off? By using the site's messaging function. It dawned on them pretty quickly that they might be onto something big, and the spark that lit the fire now known as LinkedUp was struck.
What does this site have that others don't? The ability to allow you to connect with like-minded, career-focused people and filter your matches more specifically based on factors like:
- Professional criteria
- Geographic location
- Education
- Age range
- Other interests
Now, according to rival dating site goodgenes.com, this selection criteria only matters to about 35 percent of the online dating population. Then again, if you count yourself among that percentage, your after-work social calendar may have just opened up.
Online Dating Advice When Rolling the Virtual Dice
As nice as it may be to finally feel like you have a shot at finding your like-minded soul mate virtually, the dating experts out there do have a word or two of caution.
Most prevalently, you need to use wisdom and selection-savvy in finding out about a potential partner’s true intentions. Technically, this is an off-shoot of a professional networking medium after all. Look more closely and choose carefully. Someone you're looking to date may be looking for something else entirely: an in that will land them a job.
Believe it or not, we are not trying to be online dating conspiracy theorists here; just realistic. Plenty of us out there have made the fatalistic choice of mixing work and pleasure.
While the LinkedUp app makes the ill-fated office romance a lot less likely, it can't remove all the risks associated with a professionally fueled dating pool. Just beware of who you are swimming next to and watch for tell-tale signs like dorsal fins. A little vetting and investigation of someone's dating M.O. goes a long way.
The long-term success of the LinkedUp site remains to be seen, but by all early indications, users and founders are happy with the recent crop of results. If you wish to find love on LinkedUp, we can’t promise you’ll find your perfect professional match, but we wish you all the luck! To find out how to sign up for LinkedUp, click here.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, is proven to work. From growing your professional network and applying for jobs well-suited to your skills to stay up-to-date on relevant industry news, it’s no surprise this networking site’s member base is constantly on the rise.
To learn more about using LinkedIn to your advantage, be sure to read more about it on our blog.
