|
No longer limited to the gay universe, GPS-based friend/partner/soul mate searching is now at the fingertips of the straights, thanks to the anticipated debut of Grindr's heterosexual cousin, Blendr. But don't mistake the Grindr brand for breeders as a hookup app; creator Joel Simkhai is more determined than ever to paint the location-based chat program as a "friend finder." (Details follow)
Unless they're a Kardashian, we worried earlier this year that most women likely wouldn't be rushing to sign up with a sex-finding app. But a key difference between Grindr and Blendr (other than the whole hetero thing)—the ability to let users add and search by interests—allows Simkhai to tout the straight-spinoff as a "platonic service."
"Facebook does a great job keeping you connected with people you already know," Simkhai told The Daily Beast, "but how do you meet new people? How do you make new friendships?"
Before we become too worried that our straight friends won't get to reap the benefits (they're often jealous when we flaunt our own our gaggle of gays' Grindr profiles) with Blendr, Simkhai gives a refreshing (and kind of sexy) quote to the New York Times. “Even if you’re a married man and you only want to meet other married men to play poker, you can set the settings to show those matches,” Simkhai said.
Do you think Blendr will achieve the same success Grindr has enjoyed?
[Edit Monday, September 12 at 10 a.m. EST: Andy Towle points out that gay and bisexual people can openly make profiles on Blendr, and we point out that this is much in the same way straight people can make open profiles on Grindr.]
(Source and image source: New York Times)
 |
