Image: Flickr
Got election anxiety? Want to move to Canada? Are you single? Why don't you sign up for Maple Match, eh?This week, the dating platform Maple Match launched on iOS to help users find their American or Canadian sweethearts. The app's tagline? "Make Dating Great Again!""Given the current unease of the election, naturally I turned to the nicest, most hospitable people I know," Maple Match CEO Joe Goldman said of Canadians to Motherboard. "People have mentioned, 'I'm scared of Trump, I want to move to Canada.' It's become a little bit of a meme."And not only are there Americans looking to match with Canadians, but also Canadians who are interested in dating Americans. Within a day of the launch, over 5,000 people signed up, including over 1,500 Canadians. That adds to the more than 32,000 Americans and 11,000 Canadians who already on the Maple Match waitlist. Goldman pointed out that proportionate to each country's population, that's a lot of Canadians.
Since Maple Match is swipe-free, Goldman said, the matches are based on "deal-breakers" and other aspects of dating that matter most. For instance, if smoking is a deal-breaker, the app wouldn't match you with someone who smokes to begin with, Goldman said.Of course, long distance relationships are hard. And who knows what will happen to Maple Match when the election is over. But maybe for people on the border, the app will give daters a more exciting option than Tinder or Bumble.Similar to the non-swipe apps, Maple Match prompts users to fill out various surveys on romance, politics, beliefs, habits, and personal information. Through these questions, the app deduces what kind of deal breakers would get in the way of two people dating, such as having a disability or smoking.
It even asks if users would ever date someone who would vote for Trump, or whether that's an "absolute dealbreaker." Users can also specify which nationality they want to be matched with, such as Canadians only. The depth of the app's survey questions seem to suggest that Maple Match aims to foster connections based on more in depth information, aside from basics like nationality and gender.Maple Match is about realizing love and connection across borders, said Goldman. "In an election in a time when people are building walls, it is so exciting to me that there are people, Maple Match users, who are excited about tearing them down."
Advertisement