Harvard-educated founder of OkCupid: “Dating itself is horrible’’
Christian Rudder talked about his online dating service at a recent appearance at Northeastern.
During a recent appearance at Northeastern University, OkCupid founder Christian Rudder told a group of students why so many folks are dissatisfied with online dating platforms, the Boston Business Journal reports. According to him, it’s because dating is “horrible.’’
“I wager that most people who use OkCupid don’t like it because most people don’t like dating,’’ Rudder said, according to the Boston Business Journal. “Dating itself is horrible and dating apps are never going to fix that.’’
He did not go into detail about why he thinks dating is “horrible.’’
Rudder founded OkCupid in 2004 “as an answer to the Match/eHarmony binary,’’ combining the best elements of both sites in one place. He talked to Northeastern students about the difficulties that arise when creating an online dating service and said that he doesn’t believe any up-and-coming dating sites are going to become the next big thing, à la Tinder.
“I don’t see something out there that’s such a game changer,’’ Rudder said, the Business Journal reports. “As successful as [Tinder and OkCupid] are, it’s a tough row to hoe.’’
Despite how lousy dating may or may not be, people keep on doing it: 40 million Americans currently use online dating services, according to Match.com, the dating site that bought OkCupid in 2011 after being its longtime competitor.
So is anyone satisfied with dating? Rudder believes so, but he rarely hears about it.
“The people who are most happy with OkCupid we never hear from because they’re off being married,’’ he said, according to the Business Journal.
Read more of Rudder’s thoughts on online dating here.
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