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Geekier Online Dating

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Fantasy, excitement, and…romance? These are all aspects the nerdier community knows too well from comics, movies, and games, but, within everyday life are uncommon or ignored. “Dragonfruit” is a dating app that helps connect people on a more intimate and “geekier” level.

The creator, Orie Enav, began his quest of entrepreneurship while amongst “geeky-board games” and friends. Initially, the conversation started when some complained about their failed ventures through other dating apps. The group began to list what should be changed, scrapped, or added for them to be more successful. So, through disdain for other apps’ shortcomings—Dragonfruit was born.

A major issue Orie had with other dating services is they are “very limited.” To conquer this, an “open, intuitive, and easy” system using unrestricted searching and suggestions based on algorithms was put into place. This system allows users to be “more involved or not, but the choice is theirs” and opens the possibilities of who a user can form a connection with.

DFHelp-logo“Sifting through [thousands of] users is slow when every profile is a wall of text”. On Dragonfruit profiles have less text and are more visual but, are “not based on looks and demographics.” Instead a unique feature called “geekdom badges” was created. Badges represent any nerdtastic thing a person enjoys, no matter how obscure or general. The more than 20,000 badges “tell a lot about someone [by showing] the things they love.” This also allows for quick connections and to skip all the guessing that happens when meeting anyone new. Dating is always nerve-wracking, but for an isolated nerd it can be even more worrisome. By already knowing relatable topics to speak about, it “makes it easier to start [and hold] conversations” when going out. This aspect, at its core, allows geeks to feel no shame and more importantly know they are not alone. “It’s so rewarding to find someone you can geek-out with” all while having an intimate connection.

Along with badges, complete personalization of a user’s profile is available. The user name, background, information and photos can all be customized and allow for deeper insight into who a person is. This allows other users a glimpse at a person’s unique personality and quirks because we “are more than a swipe left or right.” Dragonfruit aims to connect people on a much deeper level based on personality as opposed to superficially.

Primarily, Dragonfruit is focused on forming long-term relationships. But, Orie is well aware that intimate connections aren’t always romantic. Another “surprisingly popular” option is the “new friend” feature. Unlike other dating applications where every encounter is meant to be romantic, a user can chose to simply meet a new friend. Through the badge and open-search system, there are endless possibilities to whom someone can meet. Whether searching for a person who shares the same geeky interests or to find someone entirely different, the choice is theirs.

So “let your geek flag fly” and download Dragonfruit from the app store and start your very own fruitful adventure today.

—Emma Eustace is a professional communications student at Farmingdale State College