How online dating will transform offline dating
+ READ ARTICLESam Yagan—the CEO of online dating juggernaut Match Group, co-founder of OKCupid and self-described professional matchmaker—has already mastered the art of getting people connected online, but his next challenge is understanding what happens once people meet offline. Yagan hopes improving mobile technology will enable his company to find out what happens after the initial online spark.
“We don’t really know what happens once people go on their dates,” Yagan said. “Mobile can really be a game changer for us. Because we can kind of go on the dates with you, and if we know that you’ve been messaging on one of our apps and your phones end up sitting there next to each other for a half an hour, that’s a pretty good hint that you guys are on a date.”
Looking ahead, the internet entrepreneur also believes that one key impact of online dating will be that it creates a different type of relationship. “I think they’ll end up being more diverse,” Yagan said of connections formed online. “I think they will be more long lasting. And I think all of that stuff is great for society and for the world.”
Read Steven Levitt on Sam Yagan for TIME 100.