"We designed SpeedDate so that it would be the fastest way to meet people," he says. His site works pretty much like a speed date, but online. You get matched, you talk to [a person] for three minutes via Webcam, vote yes or no, and then you talk to each other afterward if it works out.
He says about 25,000 dates have taken place on the site since its launch. "It allows you, in a relatively short amount of time, to see that you're compatible with someone," he says. "I think it makes going on dates less intimidating."
Which Stephen Stokols says is also part of the goal of WooMe.com, a similar site he co-founded. He says dating sites carry a stigma, especially among the 18-to-24 set. In addition to the issues of time spent online and lack of spontaneity, sometimes the people are just too serious.
FOR THE RECORD - In the BaltAmour column appearing in Go Today on Jan. 19, the number of dates occurring on speeddate.com since its launch was reported incorrectly. The number is 250,000.
The Sun regrets the error.
His sister Haley Stokols, 24, had trolled the online-dating scene before they started WooMe and had dating fatigue. "It was kind of not really what I was looking for at all. It was not our scene," she says. "[People] weren't carefree; they were hardcore, looking for soulmates." When she went speed-dating in San Diego with friends -- "to make fun of it," she says -- she actually had a good time. And thus hatched the idea for WooMe.
WooMe works like a speed date -- you chat (either by video or picture and microphone, if you don't have a camera), you "woo" (if you click) and you exchange information. Stephen Stokols says 35 percent of their users mutually woo each other.
He says sites like theirs are the next step in dating. "The new technology allows for a real, live interaction. That's the closest you're gonna get to the offline world," he says. With video speed-dating you see them, hear their voice. "All that stuff allows for more learning about a person."
maryann.james@baltsun.com
