Feature Friday: Blink

Blink is a new take on the dating app game.

Here’s how it works:

1. You sign up, answer a few questions about yourself, upload one photo, and set your availability for blind dates.
2. Blink then sets you up on a “Blink Date,” which is an audio-only 10-minute conversation with a person they select for you.
3. After the audio-only date, Blink will show you a “glance” (a single image) of your date.
4. If you and your potential mate swipe right on the date and the glance, Blink will unlock a traditional text-based chat.

Blink feels like a paradigm flip on the tired mobile dating app, and it ties into the mini-audio revolution going on right now with Clubhouse.

The largest challenge Blink has to overcome is the value they offer if only a few users are on the service. We can roughly use Metcalfe's law to calculate their network effect value as the number of users squared (n²). Currently, Blink has a low value compared to competitors like Tinder. It would be to their advantage to not restrict Blink Dates based on geography. That way, the service could become popular without relying on building a critical mass in a single city.

It will be interesting to see if audio-only blind dates can disrupt the established dating app industry.

You can signup for their waitlist at theblinkdate.com.