Please list all the features that you think the ideal Christian Singles app should have. Feel free to think outside of the box and also cutting edge.
Christian Singles app
- Thread starter RoboOp
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Dating app or fellowship app?
Assuming a dating app.
Photo verification of user (have new sign ups take a picture of themselves doing a weird or unusual gesture to prove that they are the people they say and catch any banned users who try to return).
Group chats and the ability to report any inappropriate private chats.
Discussion questions / icebreakers to get people talking about interesting personal stories.
If it's at all linked to this site then the ability to easily look up a user's post history to get a better sense of who they are (or at least a place for cc username)
Assuming a dating app.
Photo verification of user (have new sign ups take a picture of themselves doing a weird or unusual gesture to prove that they are the people they say and catch any banned users who try to return).
Group chats and the ability to report any inappropriate private chats.
Discussion questions / icebreakers to get people talking about interesting personal stories.
If it's at all linked to this site then the ability to easily look up a user's post history to get a better sense of who they are (or at least a place for cc username)
I'd prefer a fellowship app
But I would call it a friendship app with fun things to do on it
To build fellowship.
If was online I'd have games like Wordle, or a game like 'favourite things' where you match lists of favourite things.
And we could have the last person to post wins game on it!!!
But I would call it a friendship app with fun things to do on it
To build fellowship.
If was online I'd have games like Wordle, or a game like 'favourite things' where you match lists of favourite things.
And we could have the last person to post wins game on it!!!
Link to members on this site so randoms don't come on and abuse it.
Also has to have emojis but maybe make them bigger so we can see them better. The emojis on here are tiny!
Also has to have emojis but maybe make them bigger so we can see them better. The emojis on here are tiny!
Hi Robo!
Thank you so much for thinking of Singles! I can only speak from my own experience, but here's what I've learned from being in the Christian single community for a very long time.
1. I would advocate for paid memberships.
I've been on free sites, and when there's nothing to lose, everyone tries -- including a large number of marrieds, which is why I gave up on free sites. I was also on eharmony, Christian Mingle, and Christian Cafe, and while of course, a paid subscription doesn't solve everything, it's at least a first layer of screening. A recent Google stat estimates that 65% of people on dating apps are married or already in relationships.
A fee might cut down the number of marrieds if Mrs. Sally sees a charge on the credit card bill showing that Mr. Sam just paid for a membership to "ChristianSingles.com."
I know this will upset those who believe all things Christian should be free, especially since a dating app will attract a lot of people who can't/don't work, so if they have better ideas for how to help keep the community safe, I'm certainly open to other ideas.
And I would be all for some kind of donation fund where those who wanted to could help subsidize memberships for anyone having a rough time and couldn't pay.
2. Enforce some sort of screening process to make people verify who they are through photos.
Catfishing is rampant and a big reason why singles give up on these sites
3. Include live chat rooms.
Mingle and Cafe used to have them -- I don't think they do anymore -- and I wouldn't go back to a site without one.
It was a lot easier to get to know people and/or catch them in lies when they had to talk to people in real time, and in a group.
For instance, there was a guy bantering with me one time I entered Mingle chat and another girl wrote me and said, "Just to let you know, he hits on every new girl who comes in. He likes to throw everything at every wall to see if anything sticks." She also told me that several girls were talking to him, and that he never answered questions about his life.
Now I understand there's a fine line between gossip and being informative -- but I definitely wasn't interested in a player. And I would not have known without the chat.
4. If it's discovered that someone is married or in a relationship, how is that handled?
How does administration handle that? And to what extent are members allowed to let others know? If someone puts in their profile, "BY THE WAY, SALLY H. IS ACTUALLY MARRIED!!" -- how far would that go?
5. No one wants to think about this, but I'm the person who, when presented with an idea, will think of everything that can go wrong.
How will reports of abuse/sexual misconduct, whether in word or deed, be handled?
I once heard of a of a sexual assault on a date from Christian Mingle. I don't know to what extent the victim went to when informing the administration, but I was told the perpetrator's account went on as if nothing happened -- possibly endangering others.
I don't know how things like that would be handled, especially from a legal standpoint.
What if you have the victim trying to warn other people, saying, "USERX37 IS A PREDATOR!" I know cases like this will boil down to "He said, She said," but you can count on things like this happening -- even if it's not physical, but someone saying inappropriate things or sending inappropriate photos.
And what happens when you have people who cross the line into stalking, etc.?
I know not every problem can be prevented, but I do know that with a dating app, these problems are going to occur. It's not a matter of if they will happen, but rather, how big they will become.
Thank you for taking the time to ask for our input!
I would be thrilled to feel there was an option for Singles that was truly concerned about honesty and safety.
Singles forum seems to encompass everyone whether they single or not. Married, divorced, widdowed, unmarried...
So I'm not sure whether to assume this app would screen people to make sure they are not a couple or using each others profiles as one person.
I mean, I'm Lanolin, I'm the only one posting under this name, there is no Mr Lanolin who shares my computer and avatar...
So I'm not sure whether to assume this app would screen people to make sure they are not a couple or using each others profiles as one person.
I mean, I'm Lanolin, I'm the only one posting under this name, there is no Mr Lanolin who shares my computer and avatar...
I post in singles not just because I'm single (I post in family and miscellaneous too) but because its the most fun and its a more of a 'get to know you' forum. It's a bit more personal.
I don't post in teens or young adults because I consider myself fully adult (with some white hairs as proof) and I am not a teen. I mean I could, but I don't pretend I'm young or a teen with the issues or things they'd like to talk about. School, uni, identity, complaining about parents etc.
Well actually I discuss all those things anyway. I just can't do too many forums at once.
I don't post in teens or young adults because I consider myself fully adult (with some white hairs as proof) and I am not a teen. I mean I could, but I don't pretend I'm young or a teen with the issues or things they'd like to talk about. School, uni, identity, complaining about parents etc.
Well actually I discuss all those things anyway. I just can't do too many forums at once.
To me, an app is something available on your phone, or ipad (but my ipad is too old to handle new apps)
So it would need phone friendly features.
The formatting needs to be simple and large enough to see on a phone. So do away with any extraneous buttons or tabs. Make it so it's easy to swipe in and out. Maybe a simpler login, and alerts. Please make it so you don't have to scroll down miles and miles. No reddit-type endless threads please.
Make it a bit time-bound, and understand that people all over the planet will be using it, so maybe timezones are good if ppl want to connect in real time. If its on phone with locations already in it, somehow you can see if you chatting or talking to someone near or far away. But please don't make it a creepy stalker type app that invades ppls privacy.
So it would need phone friendly features.
The formatting needs to be simple and large enough to see on a phone. So do away with any extraneous buttons or tabs. Make it so it's easy to swipe in and out. Maybe a simpler login, and alerts. Please make it so you don't have to scroll down miles and miles. No reddit-type endless threads please.
Make it a bit time-bound, and understand that people all over the planet will be using it, so maybe timezones are good if ppl want to connect in real time. If its on phone with locations already in it, somehow you can see if you chatting or talking to someone near or far away. But please don't make it a creepy stalker type app that invades ppls privacy.
This is a great idea, but can also go wrong very quickly.
There would have to be some way/guidelines for what to do if/when things took a wrong turn.
If you make the logo like you already have, it looks a bit like whats app.
I actually think whats app is a great app, so if its a Christian version of whats app, maybe that could work, to know that the people you connecting with are your christian friends. I don't know how you'd 'Christianise' whats app, But it's definitely an app I use often, if not the most. But thats kind of Meta's domain.
I actually think whats app is a great app, so if its a Christian version of whats app, maybe that could work, to know that the people you connecting with are your christian friends. I don't know how you'd 'Christianise' whats app, But it's definitely an app I use often, if not the most. But thats kind of Meta's domain.
Well, the scammers or report or block feature would need to be robust.
That goes for any type of app.
That goes for any type of app.
Mmm I would assume marrieds share a credit card...and they are monitoring each others bills. Married couples can have separate bank accounts, so am not sure a paid membership would actually make any difference at all as a screening thing.
Which is why I am not leaning toward any kind of dating app.
Which is why I am not leaning toward any kind of dating app.
I would assume that, because social media for under 16 is actually banned in some countries (Australia?) that, this app would be for adults, and not children or young teens. They need to concentrate on school and playing outside, not stuck on their phones lol.
Another major issue I hear from Christian singles is that they will often get asked for pictures, and/or the other person wants to send them pictures (online or through their phones.)
Nude pictures.
And yes, this is happening on Christian sites with people who claim to be Christian. So any Christian dating app would need to have to anticipate how they would block this.
Of course, the site can't control what people do on their private devices through other private accounts (email, text, phone number, other sites, etc.)
But again -- if you have User A, who wants to send nude photos and wants User B to send photos back, but User B does NOT want to -- what happens? Does User B report it to admin and somehow warn others?
I know everyone will say, "Anyone doing such things isn't a REAL Christian!"
And that's exactly what we singles are trying to communicate -- Christian dating is a shark tank with a ton of posers and landmines to wade through. The person who knows the Bible by heart in all its original languages and can recite the entire KJV -- might also have a real problem with porn/sex addiction.
And there are a hundred other scenarios -- what about drug and alcohol use? If User A shows up drunk for a date with User B, what are the rules for trying to warn other people on the site?
It would be nice to live in a plastic world where everyone actually was and acted like a real Christian, but unfortunately, that's not the real world.
It's funny how sometimes there's this thought that finding someone to marry is as easy as going to the store and choosing a bag of chips to throw in your cart.
If it were really that simple (and if God answered our prayers that easily,) none of us would be single.
Nude pictures.
And yes, this is happening on Christian sites with people who claim to be Christian. So any Christian dating app would need to have to anticipate how they would block this.
Of course, the site can't control what people do on their private devices through other private accounts (email, text, phone number, other sites, etc.)
But again -- if you have User A, who wants to send nude photos and wants User B to send photos back, but User B does NOT want to -- what happens? Does User B report it to admin and somehow warn others?
I know everyone will say, "Anyone doing such things isn't a REAL Christian!"
And that's exactly what we singles are trying to communicate -- Christian dating is a shark tank with a ton of posers and landmines to wade through. The person who knows the Bible by heart in all its original languages and can recite the entire KJV -- might also have a real problem with porn/sex addiction.
And there are a hundred other scenarios -- what about drug and alcohol use? If User A shows up drunk for a date with User B, what are the rules for trying to warn other people on the site?
It would be nice to live in a plastic world where everyone actually was and acted like a real Christian, but unfortunately, that's not the real world.
It's funny how sometimes there's this thought that finding someone to marry is as easy as going to the store and choosing a bag of chips to throw in your cart.
If it were really that simple (and if God answered our prayers that easily,) none of us would be single.
Yes.
As I said, it's not foolproof at all.
The 65% of people on dating sites being already taken was an average between both paid and unpaid sites.
But charging a fee is at least one lowball barrier to entry that might deter some marrieds from trying to join.
If it's free, there's absolutely no deterrent at all.
I have a good friend who was helping an older church member with some things on his phone -- and my friend said they were shocked at how many dating apps this married church man had on his phone. Whether they were paid or not, I don't know.
So yes, it won't matter to some.
You would hope though, that a married person might think twice about joining a dating app if there was a fee and their spouse would see the bill.
A fee might will cut out at least some of the riff raff, even it's a small percentage.