[pgsandstrom]

I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public. A government developed dating app whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships. All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible.

The completely impossible dream would be that we as a society stopped using dating apps and just met away from the keyboard instead.

[essenddotnet]

Given their precipitous fall in TFR, certain Japanese prefectures have actually started taking this approach, most notably Tokyo [1]. I don't think your dream is _all that_ unrealistic

[1] https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/tokyo-gov...

[wouldbecouldbe]

Haha this sounds like the plot for a dystopian futuristic government where based on data they automatically select the right mate for you.

But joking aside. Not everything should be solved by the government, dating is supposed to be messy, unpredictable and a bit dangerous.

We are humans not machines.

[maxsilver]

> All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible.

(as an American, balking at this): The American government is too irresponsible and corrupt to ever handle something like this -- it would get abused so quickly, and thus, no regular person would trust it.

Having a single dating app/profile as a free public service is a good idea in theory, but the pre-requisite of having a "functioning, selfless, responsible government, invested only in the public good" is just not a thing we're gonna get here.

[alistairSH]

And yet the government mostly does what we ask of it. USPS gets mail to the most remote locations for the price of a stamp. State and the military both protect our interests overseas (for better or worse). Healthcare.gov works pretty well (after that rocky rollout).

It's far from perfect, but I don't feel like it's any more dysfunctional than any other western democracy.

[mattmaroon]

That’s just marketing by politicians trying to get elected. “Our government sucks, pick me and I’ll fix it” has been every politicians message since Reagan. It isn’t real.

For an organization that size, it functions incredibly well in most respects. Nobody would claim it to be perfect (and you’re probably right that nobody would trust it even if it were, because so many have accepted that marketing) but it could handle simple tasks like a dating app.

It maybe shouldn’t. But I don’t think corruption is or in this case would be a real issue.

[Yizahi]

Would a single government (for example USA) operating such service be better on average than a single megacorp (for example Match.com)? I think corporate overreach in the democracy is way bigger than government overreach. At least in such simple and inconsequential case.

[runamuck]

The Government could also match people based on a political agenda. I don't know why they would do that, but the idea fascinates me. Any creative types want to spin this into a "Black Mirror" script?

[commandlinefan]

And every pretty girl _somehow_ ends up matching with an employee of governmentdatingservice.com.

[Yizahi]

Match the similar view or opposite views? :)

[quickslowdown]

I think it's less insane to trust the Swedish government to implement something like this responsibily than the US government. As a US citizen, absolutely no thank you to a government dating app, it's too ripe with temptation for them to be overreaching and irresponsible with the data they collect.

[dotcoma]

I own NSAdates.com — any takers? ;)

[dylan604]

Where's the conspiracy theories that it would be pairing families and connections more than personalities?

[adrianN]

China might implement something like this. The opportunities for subtle eugenics with such an app…

[randomdata]

The government here maintains a job database, which is basically the same thing. In practice, people still go to the for-profit job sites. Unless other dating apps are outlawed, it's unlikely the government brings a value proposition to see users use it over the alternatives.

> whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships.

Especially if this is what is designed around. I expect you will find that most people using dating apps aren't looking for healthy relationships – they could have found hundreds of those just walking down the street – but are trying to find something else.

[almatabata]

Before we go this route I would like to see what real competition looks like. They should break up the Match group and force those dating apps to actually really compete for users. I would love to know if new apps would maintain these tactics if they remain outside the Match group.

[komadori]

Singapore has something akin to a state-run dating agency since 1984: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Development_Network

[sevagh]

Government arranged marriages.

[sumuyuda]

There are other options to private capitalism than the government. Could be a non-profit/NGO/worker owned collective. Maybe these types on organizations could provide a better product/experience, as they aren’t orientated around maximizing the profit.

[aidenn0]

I've seriously considered starting a non-profit that runs a site that works like one of the pre- match.com acquisition dating sites. I suspect 99% of costs will be combating spam profiles, which really isn't how I want to spend my time though.

[tivert]

> I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public.

Honestly, if the government gets involved, I hope it just kills the whole category with fire and bans them all, so we can stop with this atomized, app-mediated bullshit. Match Group's shareholders will be very sad, and I will be happy to play them a tune on the world's smallest violin.

But capitalism doesn't optimize for good outcomes, it optimizes for the shittiest thing that can be monetized that people will just barely tolerate. It also will use the power of propaganda to drown out and destroy any non-market competitors, so we feel we have to use that shitty thing.

[carlosjobim]

> A government developed dating app

And there it is! I think I have never ever seen an article posted on HN without somebody in the comment advocating for a government takeover. Even for dating apps now! If you examine official policy of the Soviet Union, not even Lenin was _that_ communist.

Tomorrow's article on HN: "How to make my three year old eat his vegetables?" In the comments: "The government should mandate that he eats his vegetables!"

[quickslowdown]

Calm down there, friendo, nobody's saying the government should take over dating. What everyone here is talking about is an alternative to the current match.com-owned, for-profit state of affairs. A public option without a profit motive.

It doesn't hurt to have that alongside competition, for those who would want to use it. I personally would not use a service like that, but some governments could be sane enough to implement it as a service to the public.