No decision made on expanding dating platform for Singapore public officers beyond pilot: GovTech
Noting several differences between GovTech's platform and conventional dating apps, two unmarried public officers in the age group targeted by the pilot told CNA they are thinking of giving it a shot.
by Ang Hwee Min · CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
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SINGAPORE: The team behind FirstDate, a dating platform being piloted for government workers, said on Thursday (Oct 1) that no decision has been made on whether to expand the service.
The pilot is currently limited to public officers aged 21 to 35 who are not married, Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) confirmed in response to CNA queries about whether the agency has plans to expand the pilot to the public.
“No decision has been made on whether to launch or expand FirstDate beyond the pilot stage,” it said.
The pilot was launched to test whether a “different approach” with greater emphasis on "shared values and preferences" as well as fewer matches at a time can offer users a "different dating experience", the agency said.
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FirstDate has drawn international media attention since the pilot was rolled out this week.
Participants log in with their Singpass and answer 30 questions on their interests, lifestyle, food and travel preferences. Applications close on Oct 5.
The questionnaire also covers relationship preferences, including the youngest and oldest ages they would consider dating, any “hard nos” and whether they want children.
According to its website, the platform uses a Nobel prize-winning framework called the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm, which GovTech describes as “an established mathematical approach that generates pairings based on participants' preferences to recommend matches based on compatibility”.
Users receive one recommended match per cycle, or about once a month. Both users are notified when a match is made, after which they have three days to decide whether to accept it.
Only matched users can see each other’s profiles. Contact details will only be made available if both parties accept the match.
Users receive one match at a time so that they can “focus on building a thoughtful connection”, the FirstDate website said.
“Swipe fatigue ends here,” it read.
The platform uses Singpass to verify participants’ eligibility, including their age, marital status and government agency, GovTech said on Thursday.
“This provides greater assurance that participants are real individuals who meet the pilot’s eligibility criteria,” the agency said.
GovTech did not provide participation figures, saying that the pilot had only commenced on Sep 29.
According to the platform’s website, the idea was first explored at GovTech’s annual hackathon.
Feedback and insights from the pilot will help the team behind the platform understand what works and what can be improved, the agency added.
DIFFERENT FROM DATING APPS
Two public officers who are single and within the target age group told CNA they noticed some differences between the platform and conventional dating apps.
One of them, a communications officer at a statutory board who declined to give his name, said he has signed up for the pilot.
Unlike dating apps where users swipe left or right on each profile, he noted that FirstDate seeks to match users together.
Setting up a profile on a dating app also requires users to answer a lot of open-ended questions, he said.
"For this platform, they guide you all the way," the 31-year-old said, giving an example where users were given a list of 12 qualities and asked to select three. He has completed the questionnaire to participate and believes there is no harm in trying it out.
"For someone who is single like me and also wants to try to find a partner, I think whatever platform ... whatever works," he said.
Another difference is that there was no request for photographs. He said he had difficulty selecting good photos for his dating app profile, so this process was more comfortable.
But he added that it might be strange to meet up with someone without knowing how they look.
"For this kind of matchmaking thing, looks should also play a part," he said.
Mr HT, an analyst at an economic agency, is not planning to participate for now, but said he had heard from others that the questionnaire is quite elaborate.
The news of the pilot had stirred up quite a lot of chatter in the office, he said, adding that there was a mix of surprise and scepticism around FirstDate.
"It seems more genuine than dating apps, which are usually superficial and focused on looks," he said.
He added that a platform created by the government may be better positioned to help its users find a spouse compared with dating apps.
"Dating apps, at their core, are incentivised to keep users on or returning to the app - that is, to remain single - while the government is motivated to help users find a life partner," he said.
WILL IT WORK?
Mr HT, 28, said he is optimistic that the platform will help people to meet new people.
"But whether this Nobel Prize-winning algorithm can really produce meaningful matches remains to be seen," he said.
He described it as a nice experiment either way, noting that it opens up conversations about relationships.
He said he wants to see how things turn out for the first batch of users before deciding whether to participate in future rounds.
"I want evidence that it works before entrusting my personal data and preferences to a third party," he said, adding that revealing his relationship status and preferences to his broader employer raises some concerns.
The 31-year-old communications officer said he feels somewhat positive about the platform's ability to find him a match.
"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked.
He added that GovTech has a reputation for doing things well.
"For matters of the heart, I'm not too sure, but judging from their past record, I'm quite optimistic," he said.
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