SALON

Friday, Feb 1, 2013 10:55 PM UTC

Dating 2.0: Crowdsource your smalltalk

Don't know what to say next on your next blind date? Of course there's an app for that

By

Topics: dating, dating culture, Internet dating, ,

Dating 2.0: Crowdsource your smalltalk (Credit: Shutterstock)

We’ve all seen it: that poor couple sitting in total silence, staring helplessly at their entrees while trying to think of something to say. It’s awful, but it doesn’t have to be, says Lauren McCarthy, an artist and programmer who is currently beta-testing a tech fix for those quiet moments during dates.

Her solution? Invite the Internet along and crowdsource your smalltalk. It’s Cyrano de Bergerac for the Twitter age, and it’s called Social Turkers.

Here’s how it works: McCarthy sets her iPhone on the table and hits record. Instantly, she is broadcasting a video and audio stream of the date in real time. The video stream is then viewed by Amazon’s Mechanical Turk users, a crowdsourcing service that allows you to post small tasks that people anywhere in the world can complete.

And as reported by Anya Kamenetz at Fast Company, during the date the “social Turkers” answer polls, write reviews of what they are seeing unfold and send text messages to McCarthy’s iPhone suggesting what to say or do next.

The results? Not so bad, says McCarthy. The so-called Turkers “picked up on the times when I was nervous, uncomfortable, bored, interested, engaged with stunning accuracy. Sometimes the feedback would tell me to relax or smile, and I would read the responses afterward and they’d mention I seemed really nervous. I’d watch the footage and realize they were right.”

While having strangers weigh in on a first date might sound awful to some, McCarthy finds it oddly comforting: “Meeting new people is the #1 thing that terrifies me, which is one reason I wanted to do this project … Oddly, knowing that the workers are watching me made me feel a sense of reassurance, like I’m not all alone in this situation.”

But there are potential shortcomings, McCarthy found. For one, relying on complete strangers to put words in your mouth can be unnerving for some would-be suitors: “One told me he felt very uneasy because he was never sure when I said something if I had chosen to say it or I was being directed at that moment.”

Want to invite Internet lurkers along for an evening drink and have a panopti-date of your very own? Just wait. McCarthy is currently working on an app version of her social tech experiment, expected to launch soon.

 

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 2 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations