Is Mobile Dating The Way Of The Future?

What do you get when you combine online dating with location-based social networking services like Foursquare?

Location-based dating, of course! Take Blendr, for example, a new mobile app that lets users skip the hassle of setting up an online dating profile and meet someone nearby, right away. The app is based on the idea that complex algorithms and matchmaking software aren't needed to find a date, or even to meet new friends. All it really takes to break the ice and start a connection is a shared interest in something like fantasy football or Vietnamese food.

The application uses a check-in feature that allows users to broadcast their location to other app users. They can also send messages to one another through the application, and post status updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. Mobile dating seems like an obvious next step in a world that is increasingly connected and decreasingly concerned with privacy, but the question is: Is it a positive step, or not? Or, as a recent New York Times article asked, is it "cool or creepy?"

Opinion is mixed on the issue. When I asked my parents what they thought about location-based dating, they were aghast. Why would anyone want to do that, they asked? It can't possibly be safe to share your location with any stranger who checks you out on an app. But when I asked my friend's teenage brother, he just shrugged. To him, location-based dating was just a fact of life. It was logical in our evermore engaged world. Safety and privacy, he seemed to think, were things of the past.

Some love the idea of easily being able to find a date on a Friday night, or of being able to instantly find a companion for a last-minute trip to a nearby museum. Others point out that it's not really "dates" that these kind of apps encourage. "What a howler," said one user on the Times site. "These apps are for SEX and sex alone. People want to hook up, and proximity is everything for a quick one."

So who's right? Are they all right? Does it matter? Is location-based dating whatever you want it to be? Marcos, another Times reader, may have summed it up best: "It is the future, some of it at least, whether you like it or not."

Personally, I can't imagine letting users on a mobile dating app know where I am, privacy features or not! But what do you think, readers? What's your take? Is it creepy? Is it cool? Have you tried any location-based dating services? What was your experience with them? Share your thoughts!