It’s around 10 p.m. on a Friday night, and if you’re about my age you would be getting to a party if you’re not already there mingling with other early birds. Once situated, you start looking around at the sea of familiar and new faces, rating Hot or Not as you go from one face to another…And bingo! Who’s that cute guy standing by the corner? Or, who’s that hottie with the host? Regardless of your preference, you see someone that catches your attention.
And as fast as the speed of light, your brain starts to come up with a plan to get you within their line of interest as well. So, do you want to approach? (Yes) Do you want to start small talk (Yes) Smile a bit? (Yes) Flirt? (Yes) Hint that you’re interested? (Yes)
How the other person responds will obviously dictate your moves. It goes split 50-50: either they are interested too and bite back, if this is the case then you two enjoy your Friday night, or they plainly and forthrightly say “No” to you, if this is the case then you can either move on and find another or stop and just spend the rest of the party with your friends.
This seemingly laborious and nerve-racking process (again depending on how experienced you are at the game) has been taken to the Internet numerous times. Recently, it has been turned into a quite a fun and guilty pleasure for the BU community in 2012 in an app called Who’s That Game (the app expanded to Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard last month.)
Who’s That Game is similar to Rate My College/BU, in that it shows you a picture of a guy or a girl (your stated preference), their name, their year and their hometown. Right underneath that information are two tabs: “Who’s That” and “Next.” If you are interested, choose “Who’s That”, if not, then click “Next.” All of your choices are always anonymous, encouraging you to play more comfortably and freely.
Here’s the step up from Rate My BU and what makes Who’s That Game a dating app on the side. If you happen to choose “Who’s That” for the person who did the same for you, then you will receive a message about the new connection. For this connection list, you can add footnotes next to their names such as “He’s in my Stats class and now I know why he looks my way every lecture” or “Ugh, he’s cute but I heard he’s a jerk.”
I’m a realist most of the time, but after being fed with cute and fluffy Rom-Coms and reading Shakespeare in high school there’s a little romantic in me. Who’s That Game has this special process that caught my interest. When playing, if someone clicks Who’s That for you, he or she will be placed somewhere in the first 10 people you see when you play the next time, giving them more of a chance to be noticed by you, and vice versa.
To think about it, if you see that person’s profile and if by instinct you click Who’s That for them too, there is, although I’m reaching here, that sense of coincidence or fate. It’s a clever way of hinting you to make a connection with that person. However, if you end up clicking Next, maybe you guys were never really meant to be.
For every activity you get yourself into, especially these apps, it’s always subjective and it’s how you see it. Did you sign up for fun or for the hope that it might actually help you find someone? It’s your email account registered so it’s always your choice and your reason why you play the game.
Is this, and all other dating apps out there, an alternative to an actual encounter at a bar or a party? Maybe. There are the similarities and the differences, the benefits and the drawbacks. It sets you up in the exact scene as you would at a party or a bar: Hot or Not, I’m interested or “Next” please. On the other hand, it sets you up for no heartbreak that comes with a straight out “NO” or “Sorry, I’m not interested” right at the scene because it is so impersonal with the anonymity aspect.
One major difference between an actual meeting versus using these kinds of apps is that in the virtual world you’re just looking at a profile picture and some information, with more of a chance of falsification. This is most likely the reason why some may not take online dating sites and dating apps seriously. Their genuineness can be questioned – is he really a he or is that really what she looks like?
When all is said and done, Who’s That Game is another option that can strike the match for a spark, but no matter how many connections you make, you and the significant other will have to actually meet in person and talk, smile and flirt if you want to take it somewhere far more than a simple tap of the Who’s That option.