A dating app is helping book nerds find their match based on what’s on their bookshelves
Screenshot of a profile on the dating app
With its catchy tagline, “Swipe books, not looks”, Bookmark — a new dating app — is connecting readers across the world with each other. The profiles in the app are structured like books. Readers can fill in their information, like their bios and personal beliefs, under the sections titled blurb, preface, story, epilogue, and bibliography. Additionally, they can add their favourite books to the bookshelves on their profiles.
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This allows readers who get matched to browse through each other’s collections and leave a message, if they enjoyed reading a specific book too. Co-founded by Bengaluru-based readers Shruti Sah and Harsh Snehanshu (founders of Cubbon Reads), along with Sid Zidaun and Avrojyoti Das, the app offers a wholesome way of finding partners — not necessarily for a romantic relationship, but also as book buddies.
Harsh Snehanshu and Shruti Sah
Books were a significant part of what connected Sah and Snehanshu. When they began Cubbon Reads, Sah tells us, “We saw that there were friendships forming very organically.” People would reach out to one another if they caught sight of a new or an intriguing title. “Over time we realised that people had, in this way, started to become friends with each other. Some had even started dating. That gave us an idea to create an app where people can actually get to know each other,” she adds. The app that was launched last year has onboarded over 50,000 users.
A user shares a picture of the book they are reading on the app
A highlight of the app is the hidden display picture, which gets revealed only after 10 messages have been exchanged with the matched profile. “The intent to talk to each other is focused around their personalities and interests, rather than something shallow as a face, which is a problem most people face on other apps,” observes Sah. Snehanshu agrees, “It was a daring move on our end, but we were confident that if you really are readers of similar kinds of books, 10 messages would be a no-brainer.” It can easily get the conversation started. They also provide prompts, a quirky one being “an author I’d love to hate with you”.
The biography column is divided into sections similar to a book
One of the initial snags faced by the team was dealing with fake profiles. Snehanshu reveals that about two per cent of the users were using celebrities’ pictures, instead of their own. The team has managed to block those. He adds, “We’re working on a selfie-verification, where your selfie will be matched with the picture you’ve put up to solve the problem more efficiently.” The team was also happy to report a higher ratio of women to men using the app, as compared to all other dating apps.
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