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A new and emerging form of mobile dating or “cell phone dating” is the service known as proximity dating. In the past, mobile dating has made an effort to make online dating portable. It allowed individuals to create and browse one another's profiles from their cell phones. Information would be given about the user’s age, gender, sexual preference, and pictures of the user. As the industry grew, ideas to utilize the specific functions of cellular phones grew as companies began to introduce systems involving texting messages, pictures, and the ability to call one another without releasing the user’s phone number. Now proximity dating takes those ideas one step farther, by creating a service where users will be notified if they come within another user that shares the same common interests.

The idea behind proximity dating is that through the use of various technologies such as Bluetooth technology, GPS Phones, and GSM localization, people will be able to meet others that could possible lead to dates and more intimate relationships. This is done by either matching people within the same social network, bases information on specific searching criteria, or through matching users’ profiles and/or using some sort of compatibility system.

According to one survey, more than half the country’s single population have dated online.^[1] These services become more popular each year. Their business models have changed. Fees and user bases vary from one company to the next. Some have a monthly fee, while others provide their services for free and rely on advertisements such as Google Adsense for their revenue.

Proximity dating is one of the newest dating systems and has even surpassed online dating services in popularity within some countries. An article written in 2004 described proximity dating, "Proximity Dating is a service that uses cell phone technology to pinpoint a person’s location. The phone then alerts a user whenever a compatible person comes “Stop getting Dumped.” Proximity dating subscribers can speak, exchange photos, or videoconference, and decide if they want to meet. The service is currently available in Japan and Iceland."^[2]

Some of the first proximity dating systems did not have the luxury of GPS. Use of GPS systems in cellular phones were not widespread at the time. Locations were determined by cell tower triangulation, which was not at all precise. Several companies pioneered this system, with the Japanese platform Imahima being the forerunner. US player, Dodgeball, was an SMS application that could help find where friends were hanging out. It was bought by Google, which in turn later dismissed the project. Meetro, based in Chicago, was another interesting platform that unfortunately does not exist anymore.

With the raise of GPS systems becoming a common feature among cell phones, the technology is possible to turn a cell phone into somewhat of a homing device. Methods of calculating locations are becoming more and more accurate, and such programs such as Google Maps for mobile phones increase in popularity.

In combination with the raise of the GPS feature within cell phones, there has been a drastic increase in the acceptance and demand for social networking. Facebook has over 140 million current active users. Many of the popular social networking sites already have applications made for cell phones. Most of these applications are designed just to bring their PC experience to a mobile phone, but each of them are looking for ways to incorporate location-based functionality.

There is also a current raise in new location-based social networks, also known as geosocial networking, that are trying to take off. Names such as whrrl, loopt, limbo, and moximity are circling around. Some are being sold in apple’s store and have even integrated themselves into the existing social networks. For example, loopt has made a facebook application that essentially combines the two networks. And then others of these programs have found way to work, although not as well, without the need of a smartphone.

There is now another form of finding one another through this proximity dating system, and that is through Bluetooth technology. There is a program that has recently come out simply called Proxidating. Developed by a company in France, Proxidating tries to answer the problems of an expensive phone and phone service (the first consumers do not like, while the second being something that phone carriers are sketchy of) by creating a program that can be installed onto any phone with Bluetooth capabilities.

To use the service, one must first fill out a profile each of the user and the type of person that the user is looking for. A picture is loaded must be supplied, as well as a starting message that you wish to send. As the user goes about the day, Proxidating will search for a partner within Bluetooth distance and both users will get a ring with their pictures on it. It’s then their choice as to text, call, go talk in person, or just pass on by like nothing happened. The idea is to help those out walking and performing normal activities to helping those pick a partner out of the crowd at night clubs and other social gatherings.

In recent years, the use of online dating or online personals services has evolved from a marginal to a mainstream social practice.^[3] It is one of the largest paid industries on the internet. New features have been added to many of the most popular services such as the use of web cams, something called virtual dating. Virtual dating combines elements of video gaming with the aspect online dating. Users develop characters to represent themselves as they interact with one another inside of a virtual world.

The longer online dating stands, the more comfortable and popular it becomes. And with the growing number of customers, new services are about to target certain demographics such as pairing people by race or religion. As analyst Brent Iadarola said, “I think people are more comfortable with online dating, and it’s generally been accepted……The comfort people have with online dating in the wired world is now translating to the mobile world.”^[4]

With the success of online dating, mobile dating has been able to branch off and become popular on its own. As reported in one newspaper, “Revenues from mobile dating and chatroom services are expected to pass $1bn by 2010, according to a new report from Juniper Research. Globally, the number of users of such services is expected to rise from just over 40m in 2007 to 260m in 2012, driven by strong demand in both developed and emerging markets, including more than 60m users in the Indian sub-continent.”^[5] Just as online dating has grown, mobile dating is on the raise as well.

People like the idea of mobile dating because it gives some distinct advantages over online dating. Being portable, mobile dating is much more convenient to use as opposed to online dating. Someone text and flirt with others in between classes at college, during lunch breaks, or on that big commute to and from work.

A study was done to explore the success of online dating relationships in relation to the evolving technology, comparing the success rates of couples corresponding through just e-mails versus instant messaging and video chat. They found that synchronous text programs reported the highest levels of intimacy, and that intimacy grew in a linear correlation as the media richness increase from that interaction of synchronous text.^[6] Mobile dating has the potential to emphasize on the most important aspects on online dating.

On the flip side, others are still a bit weary when it comes to mobile dating. They are afraid privacy could be an even greater issue. Real phone numbers could be leaked out, and stalkers/predators could have an easier time finding you. There is also a current notion that the client base for mobile dating is more of a younger crowd looking for fun rather than a serious relationship. As Kim stated, “It’s people like Howard, young and tech savvy, who will make up most of the mobile dating market, industry executives expect. They said cell phones are conducive to more casual dating and flirting. Serious daters looking for their soul mates will likely continue to address their loneliness through their PCs.”^[7]

Still others argue that mobile dating is inferior to regular PC online dating for various technical aspects. Pictures are lower quality on cell phones versus PCs. As of now, the profiles and matchmaking capabilities are more in depth with online services. And people are also concerned with the battery life of their phone. They are afraid to clutter their phone with too many programs.

Cost is the main obstacle to overcome as far as mobile dating is concerned. Some companies would like the charge a monthly rate. That monthly rate stacked on top of a smartphone, monthly phone bill, data plan, and then texting charges on top of all that could really add up to a lot that most consumers are not quite ready to undertake yet. Another problem is the ability to start up a new social network. If only a few customers jump on after its launch date, customers won’t be able to find enough other people and decide that the service is not worth it. Still others fear that privacy will be a big concern. Anything that becomes really popular will have people taking advantage of it. It is a lot easier to handle 500 junk e-mails than it would be to get 500 junk text ringing your phone every minute.

The potential for mobile and proximity dating is enormous, and should continue to grow as it has in other parts of the world such as Japan and throughout Europe. As 3G technology becomes more widespread, it could introduce such things as video chatting into the equation. The next wave of Bluetooth technology will boost ranges from 15 meters to 100 meters of coverage. Cell phone plans are becoming more accommodating and packaging their phone, data, and texting plans into more reasonable purchases. Smartphones are coming down in price. Some believe that all these things show great promise for the future of proximity dating within the US.

At the end of his article, Perry predicted that, “As the internet continues to become more commonplace and technologies continue to become simpler, it is likely that individuals will utilize even greater numbers of different Internet-based communication media in the future.”^[8] Proximity dating is a definitive sign that technologies are becoming more commonplace. It is just a matter of time before catching on like the rest of the dating systems before it.

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• Ellison, Nicole, Rebecca Heino, and Jennifer Gibbs. "Managing Impressions Online: Self-Presentation Processes in the Online Dating Environment." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 11.2 (2006): 415-41.

• "Mobile Dating Revenues to Reach $1bn by 2012, According to a New Study from Juniper Research." M2PressWIRE (2007).

• Pauley, Perry M., and Tara M. Emmers-Sommer. "The Impact of Internet Technologies on Primary and Secondary Romantic Relationship Development." Communication Studies 58.4 (2007): 411-27.

• Ryan Kim. "Hey, Baby, Want a Date? / New Mobile Dating Services Allow People to Browse Profiles Via Cell Phone and Message Potential Matches -- Even on the Spot." San Francisco Chronicle (CA).

• Sathnam Sanghera. "Internet Dating is for Everyone (Except Me, of Course)." Times, The (United Kingdom).

• "Proximity Dating with a Cell Phone.(Brief Article)." The Online Reporter. Rider Research, Inc. 2004. HighBeam Research. 16 Dec. 2008 <http://www.highbeam.com>.

• "Bluetooth-enabled proximity dating service." Gizmag. Gizmag. 2008. 6 Dec.2008 <http://www.gizmag.com/go/3685/3/>