Searching for that special someone who shares your desire to obsessively binge-watch Arrested Development on a hangover could be more useful than you thought, says Charly Lester
Last week a pair of tech developers in America announced the launch of Pilot, a dating app where users are matched according to their TV and movie tastes. Is it a lazy attempt to capitalise on the ‘#Netflixandchill’ meme? Or is there more to TV taste and romantic compatibility than meets the eye?
TV is an interesting medium. It’s probably the one we engage with most on a day-to-day basis, and yet there’s still an underlying snobbery that surrounds it. While for years, singletons have happily shared their reading, musical and film tastes in personals ads and on dating profiles, TV rarely gets mentioned. As if the things we watch on a daily basis don’t define us in the same way an occasional film, which we might only watch once, apparently does.
Netflix and chill? No, really. pic.twitter.com/ezcZ7V0peN
— Netflix US (@netflix) July 22, 2015
In recent years, on-demand sites such as Netflix and Hulu have put us firmly in control of our television viewing. Rather than being restricted to just a few options, and having those options governed by a fixed schedule, we now have complete freedom to watch what we like, when we like. And those choices say more about us than we might realise.
When I look at my closest relationships, they are all with people who share my TV tastes. Yes, my relationships with those people are predominantly away from the TV set. But there are also quieter, lazier times when we mooch on the sofa for a weekend, and binge-watch a box set… or three. A shared taste in television can tell you a lot more than you might think. It’s a clear indicator of a shared sense of humour. And different people watch TV for different reasons, whether it’s education, information, entertainment or simply to unwind.
“They say the sign of a committed relationship is sharing your Netflix password”
The thing about TV is, that unlike reading a book, it’s often a shared experience. Particularly if you live in close quarters with someone. So when it comes to a long-term relationship, a shared taste in TV can actually be quite important. We live increasingly stressful lives, and often people unwind at the end of the night by turning on the TV. If this is the only time you get to spend with your partner during the week, it can make a big difference whether you spend that time in the same room, enjoying the same TV show together, or not. If you don’t relax in the same way, you either end up in separate rooms every night, or with one of you unhappy about the choice of show.
(Photo: Flickr/Grant Neufeld)
To be honest, I think the guys behind Pilot are on to something. In fact, I’d go so far as to say a shared taste in entertainment goes a lot further in assessing compatibility than the colour of someone’s hair, or what they do for a living.
However, I think TV-viewing-matching would really come into its own if either Hulu or Netflix themselves stepped into the dating arena. Because there may well be a difference between the shows we say we watch, and our actual behavior. And that’s information which on-demand TV sites have at their fingertips. The sites also know exactly how much TV we watch and at what times of day, which can also be important to compatibility. As a result, Netflix or Hulu could go beyond just matching people who watch the same shows, using their data for more complex matching. The sites already know which TV shows attract similar viewers – this is how their algorithms present us with suggestions. This data could be used to match two users with a similar sense of humour, or similar viewing behaviour, even if they don’t watch the exact same shows.
They say the sign of a committed relationship is sharing your Netflix password. In the future, maybe the way to get to that committed relationship in the first place could be by sharing your Netflix preferences. Think of all the hours you could then spend Netflixandchill-ing.
Read more about Charly Lester’s adventures in dating on her blog, 30 Dates.
The post No one to #Netflixandchill with? This new dating app matches people based on their TV viewing habits appeared first on Collectively.