(Last Updated on April 27, 2021 by Datezie Editors)
A lot of today’s most popular dating apps — think: Bumble, Tinder and Hinge — follow the same format: You make a profile, swipe through potential matches until you find someone who catches your eye, message them and proceed with caution. Your profile typically has the same look, a mix of words and photos that best describe your personality — a hot take on your love of onion rings over French fries, a sweet selfie with your neighbor’s dog, a glamour shot on your good side and so on. But now, even the question prompts and photos are starting to feel dating in our fast-paced, overly-stimulated world.
That’s why Kimberly Kaplan founded Snack, a new dating app that relies on video (live or otherwise) to form life-long connections. In short, it’s best described as “Tinder Meets TikTok for Gen Zs” — Kaplan’s words not ours. Along with the videos uploaded to their profile, users can also go live and video chat with interested singles, making for a more authentic, potentially more worthwhile dating experience.
It makes sense, really: The last year forced dating to go totally virtual. Throughout the pandemic, many singles found themselves testing the waters through video calls before taking the full plunge. Popular dating sites like Bumble and eHarmony even gave users the ability to video chat directly on their platform — no Zoom or FaceTime needed. But still, Snack isn’t just another dating app that happens to offer video features; it combines the tried-and-tested matching algorithm found on today’s top dating sites with TikTok’s of-the-moment appeal.
Here’s how it works: There isn’t any swiping, liking or funny business on Snack. Instead, singles can engage directly with other users via video stream, similarly to how they would on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. The difference is that Snack also gathers relevant information when users are creating profiles, so their location, relationship status and intentions are made known to everyone they interact with.
The app was made with Gen-Z, specifically those who are 18 to 24-years-old, in mind. “Tinder is your parents’ dating app,” Kaplan writes in a company statement. Snack, on the other hand, is a place for Gen-Z to “match and then immediately migrate onto other social platforms where they can engage in each other’s content without the pressure of starting a conversation.” So, think of Snack as the seriously entertaining wingman who set you up with everything you need for a great date — or at the very least, a captivating few hours of video streams.
Although Snack is still in its early days, it’s quickly picking up speed. Earlier this year, the app raised $3.5 million in seed funding, which means this app may just be the way of the future. So for now, check out Snack in the App store (It’s not available for Android users just yet.) and if you’re a college-aged single, consider joining the Snack Squad
to spread the word on your college campus.
