I heard about a dating site that was set up by a New York girl a few years ago. The just was that she was annoyed with dating sites and the quality of men they spat out at her. She was a high powered business woman in the city of my dreams and she wanted to meet men who understood the importance of her career and the need for them to keep up. She set up a site that used your LinkedIn profile to determine access. It also made sure that you were never paired with people you may possibly come in to contact with at work (CLEVER!). This was awhile ago and I never heard much more about it.
Recently I heard about a new app called the Inner Circle. Your access to the site/app is manually approved and based on your education and (shock horror) looks. The idea is to match up young professionals in the sexiest cities in the world. You need to have a certain level of education or job and be fit and healthy (this is determined via access to your Facebook or LinkedIn profile – you decide).
What I found rather intriguing about The Inner Circle was that not only was it a “dating app” but it also arranged nights out for singles on the app. Wine Tastings, cocktail nights and the like. I think, looking at it, this really was what attracted me to the idea of the Inner Circle. The opportunity for singles, that understand the pressures of high end corporate life and take their work seriously, to hang out in fun settings. Most of my friends now form one part of a couple so this seemed appealing. Also I work rather hard and meeting someone who “gets that” can be difficult.
I happened to test the Inner Circle out, though it isn’t available in Johannesburg I used the London version. I was impressed. The men I got chatting to all seemed like ones I could meet for a drink in real life… granted they were British which upped the attraction level by like a gazillion points, I’m shallow like that.
If the Baron would let me bring Digit on a Friday night… this would be us.I mentioned the dating app to a friend of mine and she was rather horrified. While I saw it as a way to meet other people with similar drive to me who wouldn’t get frustrated when I chose to work late or fired up my laptop in bed on a Sunday morning, she felt it was rather shallow and close minded. Her argument is that judging people based on their looks and careers completely narrows the pool to a bunch of narcissistic folk who are a bit up their own bums (I can honestly say none of the men I chatted to on The Inner Circle seemed that way… but this is the internet).
It is an interesting thought process but still, as a single career girl in the busy city, I can confidently say (and it has taken me awhile to figure this one out, if I’m honest) that I want my partner to be successful and driven. I want him to be as motivated as me and hard working. Not because I’m shallow and looking for someone to finance me (though I do love a good set of biceps… that might be my downfall) but because I do feel like he would be far more understanding of where my head is at. An app like The Inner Circle seems like the perfect place to meet someone like that. And if not to meet someone, at least an opportunity to network with other singles in the city.
Like I said, the app isn’t available in Johannesburg as yet but after chatting to my friend and hearing such a conflicting view I did start to wonder…. would you apply to an app like this? Would it be something you would want to sign up to?
