A new app has hit the dating marketplace called LinkedUp.
Similar to Tinder, where users can swipe right on a profile to be matched with a date or left to take a pass, LinkedUp takes your business life and marries it with your love life.
To start of, LinkedUp is not a service or affiliated with LinkedIn. However, if you look at LinkedIn as a trusted place to make business connections with people, why not take a business approach while looking for love online?
For many years, singles tried to be anonymous with catchy screen names and aliases on Internet dating sites. Women, more often than men, tried to protect their identities to the point that even posting their first name made them feel uncomfortable.
In a day when sharing in real time has become the norm, it was only a matter of time before singles embraced authenticity to the point that seeing a first and last name of a potential date has becoming refreshing.
Now dating apps tie into Facebook and LinkedIn to include the college your potential date attended and their place of employment, taking out the step of doing an extensive Google search on your date.
How does LinkedUp work?
App users set the preferences for the industries they’d like to find a potential date or mate in, the desired age range from 18 to 60 and how many miles (within 100) they’d like the app to search.
You can even take it a step further and specify a list of schools your potential date would have attended.
When you open the mobile app, the wheel goes around and looks for people in your geographic location to search for nearby matches. You’ll be able to view his or her profile photo, first name, age, industry and your shared connections.
If you like the profile, you can click the green “Like” button on the right or click the red “Pass” button on the left to move to the next profile.
If you’re interested in learning more about your potential date before swiping one direction or the other, you can click on the information button.
If it’s a mutual match, you can start chatting within the app and talk business, love or a combination of the two.
If you’re willing to go to a business networking event and swap cards with someone IRL, would you be willing to date someone you’ve met on Linkedin, or do you think you should keep the division of business and love separate? Your comments are welcome.
Update: LinkedUp is no longer in operation, but Elite Singles has since become the go-to dating site for single professionals.
