(Online Dating Industry Journal) A new company lets online daters delegate their tasks, having a professional expert represent you on online dating sites. The company, called Done For You Dating, manages your profile and all communications, going as far as setting up dates for you. And it's all done under your name.
"Online dating is like hunting for buried treasure," says Luke Chao, founder of Done For You Dating. "The treasure is there, but it takes an incredible amount of digging through dirt before you find it. And most busy professionals don't have that much time or emotional energy to spare."
Here's a message from the founder, Luke Chao:
According to Done for You Dating, company dating representatives, who pose as you on online dating services, are "skilled writers who are knowledgeable about popular culture. They receive specific training in online dating and personal branding."
"We promote the client's best qualities," says Sue Bedford, a representative at Done For You Dating. "It's already a borderline immoral service, so we go the extra mile to represent clients fairly, accurately and factually."
Joe's Comments
I thought I'd heard of everything when it comes to online dating, but I was wrong. This is absolutely unbelievable. There's already enough problems with people lying in their profiles. Now a company wants to pose as you to arrange dates? What's next, a service that actually sends a representative on a date to make sure they look like their photo? And what happens when you take back over your communications and suddenly your whole writing and interaction style has changed? This is a bad, bad, idea...
I recently stumbled upon a company on VentureBeat.com called VirtualDatingAssistants.com that already does this. I'm not too convinced that these companies are gonna make it but its an interesting idea
Posted by: Mike Hugh | July 02, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Personal ads (and profiles) are labeled as such because they're... personal! No one knows you better than you know yourself. No third party can represent your interests and dating preferences better than you regardless of the number of phone calls, emails, or face-to-face meetings you may have with that third party. To allow another individual to impersonate you on a dating site is misleading, deceptive and impersonal. If you hire a matchmaker, people know that there's a middle man but on a dating site, the assumption is that YOU are on the other end! Besides, using an outsider to do the work for you does not guarantee you any more success.
Posted by: C.C. | July 02, 2009 at 03:35 PM
it's actually quite creepy, as well as an invasion of the third person's privacy.
Posted by: Fiona | July 03, 2009 at 04:57 AM