[Update/Editors’ Correction – JDate staff has contacted TC Jewfolk to make the following clarification: JDate Mobile features are 100% available for free to JDate Subscribers. Non-paying members of JDate have limited access to JDate Mobile in that they cannot view the content of emails and cannot respond to any messages or alerts, however, the app remains free. TC Jewfolk apologizes for any confusion.]
This is a Guest Post by Ilana Ostrin, a University of Minnesota Junior.
Jewish and looking for a spouse? For JDate users, there is no longer a need for a computer mouse.
JDate, the most prominent dating service within the worldwide Jewish community, has now announced a new application for mobile phones.
“JDate Mobile works not only on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices, but across all mobile platforms, regardless of handset model or carrier. With JDate Mobile, members can receive real-time mobile alerts notifying them when they receive new messages, when another JDater views their profile, when a JDater adds them to their hot list, and much more, all free of charge.”
What does this mean for the many Jewish singles who employ the site?
For starters, the app stands out in that it is innovative. It is the first app, at least for dating website applications, that can be used on any phone. It can be used on any phone with internet mobility, not just the popular and expensive phones, such as the famed I-Phone, Blackberry, etc.
Some will employ its usage to just find a casual date. Others to find the one they adore and forever more refer to as their ‘shayna punim.’
While JDate is widely well-respected within the Jewish community, this new application offers both pluses and minuses. The application offers more bang for its buck, and is helpful to many busy professionals whose career often consumes their time, leaving little room for a successful dating life. Yet, some Jews do see it as a possible setback to their dating lives.
A young, 20-something Jew from the Los Angeles, Hayley O. said the following about the new application:
While I have not used JDate personally, I have many friends who have used it, and have had success via JDate. However, my feelings on this new application are that if I was focused on following my phone updates from JDate, I could be missing out on Jewish men right in front of me. I would be distracted by my phone, and it would replace my reality.
The app is only temporarily allowing JDate users to receive and send private messages to other JDate users for free. This is a good ploy in order to attract JDate users to the app, but once the free trial expires, how many users will continue that part of the phone app? In this economy, it is unlikely that a person who is already paying for the service on their computer, which any person in this day and age is indubitably and inevitably using, would pay extra for the same features on a phone.
For many Jews, the pressure that exists to marry other Jews is often very high. When one is heading towards an age of ripeness everyone else is getting married. And everything seems to be a constant reminder that you have yet to find your bashert. You already have a nagging mother who pesters you enough via the phone about finding your non-existent Jewish mate. Then suddenly, your phone starts beckoning as well. Sometimes it uplifts you – a nice Jewish doctor seems interested in you. Other times, it’s a reminder that’s worse than your mother. That nice Jewish doctor has stopped messaging you. Now how much fun is it having JDate on your phone?
This application will be an interesting trial run for JDate. With the amount of people who have phones with internet mobility, its trial run will likely be highly utilized. But the reactions, response, success, and future of the JDate mobile application are yet to be determined.
Jewish mothers everywhere will be anxiously watching and waiting the success of the app. Who knows, perhaps they even may begin chipping in a few extra bucks to help out their beloved younglings who have yet to find the Jewish mates that every mother dreams of.
