Would Using Your GPS Finds You a Man?

CHRIS GIESSLER HAD JUST LEFT a party downtown at the Boston Society of Architects. It was 11 p.m. He had had a few beers and wanted to wait a while before driving home. So in a move as natural as applying chap stick, he clicked on his iPhone and logged onto the dating app OkCupid Locals.

Using the GPS coordinates tracked by his smartphone, the app pinpointed Giessler’s exact location — 290 Congress Street — and then displayed a list of single men within several blocks who were also on their phones and looking to meet someone right that minute. OkCupid Locals is meant to follow you wherever you go and find you matches along the way. And these guys seemed promising. He’d never seen them while looking at OkCupid profiles from his Ashland condo.

First, the 33-year-old Giessler clicked on his profile of a guy looking for someone to sing karaoke with, but he didn’t have a college degree, a deal breaker for him. Guy number two looked cute enough, but he was a Republican. “No way,” he said, laughing. The last guy was looking to see a movie and shared his interest in sailing. He messaged him: “Hi there : )” and he ping-ponged a message right back. Within minutes, standing several blocks away from each other, they were chatting about a possible date.

It was so immediate, it was intoxicating. In the past, Giessler had sat at home in front of his computer, sifting through an endless stream of profiles to figure out who was worth messaging. “Oh, the messaging,” he sighs. “It could take weeks before you even get a date, or you just realize you’ve been talking to someone who just wants to write and write. There’s a lot of that.” She uses location-based mobile dating apps for one reason: They’re efficient. In an age when we live and breathe by our cellphones and expect our every whim to be satisfied right that second, it’s only natural that online dating should migrate to mobile. Says Giessler, “It cuts to the chase and helps you meet people faster.” (Although he and bachelor number three never did meet up.)

*Names changed

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