Anyone who's tried online dating for more than a few weeks will know it can be a major drain on time and energy. Even keeping up with the latest dating trends can feel exhausting. So, in a strange way, there's something appealing about a new dating app that only works one day a week.
It's called Thursday because it lies dormant for six days a week until Thursday. Then each week at 00.01, it will come alive, allowing you to match and chat with fellow users for the next 24 hours. At midnight, all matches and chats will be wiped, meaning you'll have to start again next week if you haven't met anyone you like.
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The aim, according to the app's creators, is to encourage spontaneity and cut down on the endless small talk that can define the dating app experience.
"It’s a fact: people are spending too much time on dating apps," the creators say on Thursday's website. "Not only is the whole experience underwhelming, but pressure to find ‘the one’ is boring. When did being single become a thing to be ashamed of? That’s where Thursday comes in.
"We built an app where everything you want from online dating happens in one day, making Thursday the one day of the week when singles can match, chat and meet. Why? Because there’s more to life than dating apps."
It's a pretty convincing sales pitch, but only time will tell whether the whole "Thursday for dating" thing will catch on. It's worth nothing that the app will require users to upload a photo of their passport or driver's licence when they join, which should make catfishing impossible and improve safety across the board.
The creators also say that they will "take abusive messages extremely seriously and not tolerate hate speech", which is nothing less than we expect from dating apps in 2021.
Thursday is London-based and will be available to download from 2nd May. At first, it will only be welcoming users in London and New York, but the plan is to expand into Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow and Dublin later in May. Major European cities will follow after that.