The Future of Dating Apps
On any given day I get follows from at least a couple random Twitter accounts.
The vast majority are some kind of spam bot trying to steal my information in some scam business that if only it were an app or a blog could be promoted on Medium.
In between the spam bots looking for nothing more than a higher follower count there are real people — Flesh and blood between the bytes and bits.
To my great surprise sometimes they are actually fans of Comatose Podcast!
I think much more often they are accounts trying to connect and gain exposure through some kind of new information age passive aggressive networking.
So when I got a follow from the indie film, Other Halves, I wasn’t sure if it was a bot or a person behind the account. Many of these promotion accounts are just social media driven machines relying on automation to increase clicks.
I looked up the movie and thought it looked interesting.
A horror film based on a dating app that turns out to be evil? Sounds fun!
I rolled the dice and reached out.
I was excited to hear back from a real person. On top of being real, they were interested in being on Comatose!
After a few awkward emails I had an interview with Matthew T. Price, the writer and director behind the film.
On the day of the interview, Matthew and I ended up talking for more than an hour about movies, life, his career, and Back to the Future. Matthew’s passion for filmmaking is second only to his kindness in life. He has experience to back up his ideas and balances his art with the reality of business. A creative mix that not only makes sense, but also allows him to progress his art.
After being skeptical that there was even a human behind the Other Halves Twitter account, our engaging conversation was not only an experience in organizing a guest for the show, it was an exercise in trusting technology — in trusting a stranger.
The horror that unfolds in the movie is a surreal adventure into the Twilight Zone of the high tech industry and startups in San Francisco.
I don’t think Matthew distrusts that world, but there is an inherent mystery to using all these apps when we have no understanding of what the code is doing or who is behind the code.
While Other Halves explores horror in such a world, I found our real life interactions through technology to be more hopeful.
We may not understand the code and we may not know who we are talking to, but it’s still possible to make real human connections on the internet.
Unless the app turns out to be evil of course.
Written by John Bauer of Comatose.
Comatose is a weekly series of amusing anecdotes, insightful commentary, and pithy stories. Every week three contributors are featured in short segments. The segments, though often unrelated, are tied together using music and narration to set the scene. Relax and enjoy the ride while listening to topics as varied as love, birthdays, and reciprocity.
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