posted March 10, 2017 04:46 PM            

I was dreaming about a Synastry Match Dating App as well. Regular methods are not really cutting it for me anymore. Suddenly since I guess none of us feel safe anymore, we'd like some Divine intervention.

I'm starting this thread with intentions to help start a dialogue about what people want and what people think is needed and would work well with this kind of app. Hopefully the Universe could send us a technologically gifted person or people who are capable of creating what we collectively ask for.

Please add your experiences with the dating match sites you've already used. And if you have practiced synastry, give ideas on what to incorporate. Cafe astrology's compatability factors might be a good place to start:

https://cafeastrology.com/synastry-2.html

https://cafeastrology.com/romantic_compatibility_printer.html

posted March 11, 2017 10:25 AM            

Target audience : It has to be available to both astrologers and non-astrologers. If we want to build trust in the app it needs to be presented in a way which VERY CLEARLY explains that synastry match-making is not a magic wand that will automatically do all the work for you because unfortunately many people who turn to dating apps and astrology for love have these undercurrent expectations.

Match-making algorithm

When setting up one's account I think the user should check from a list what type of relationships they are interested in.

Examples:

- Friendship
- Romantic relationship
- Sexual relationship
- Long-term companionship

Each of these categories will give priority to different aspects when looking for matches.

Very roughly it would look something like this:

Friendship - high priority to Sun, Jupiter, Mercury and Ascendant aspects
Romantic - high priority to Sun, Moon, Venus, Neptune aspects
Sexual - high priority to Mars, Venus, Pluto, Uranus aspects
Long-term - high priority to Saturn, Moon, Sun, Venus, Mercury aspects

A person could either select one or more relationship category or they could list them in a descending order from most desired to least desired. There should probably be an option to exclude categories and not show up in results. For example a person may not want to show up in the results of people who only have "sexual relationship" enabled. Not sure about this at all. A developer would probably be better at figuring this out.

Profile

Profile picture/s, age, sex, location, personal description where you can add anything. Possibly also "Looking for" info but it may be a little on the nose. Birth chart should be available too but maybe only after people have chosen you/friended you/swiped right etc.

Results

This would depend on how the app operates - whether it's based on geolocation and picks up people around you or you can browse through all users like on social media.

I think when clicking on a profile it should at least give you the following info:

Emotional affinity: Similar/Complimentary/Contrasting
Sexual affinity: Similar/Complimentary/Contrasting
Communication: Similar/Complimentary/Contrasting

I would say avoid using percentages or words like low/medium/high because that’s biased. “Similar” would be for conjunction heavy synastry, “Complimentary” for trines and sextiles and “Contrasting” for squares and oppositions.

The profiles may be color-coded to give you a hint about what kind of relationship potential you two would most likely have. For example green for friendship, pink for romance, red for sexual and blue for long-term.

Customization for astrologers (this could be a paid feature)
It should definitely have an opportunity for customization for people who know what they’re doing. You can go into your settings and customize what aspects, placements it should filter instead of the default algorithm.

Very personalized math-making (also could be a paid feature)
The default match-making would rely on “cook-book” synastry but we as astrologers know that natal charts come first and synastry is experienced different by everyone. Therefore there should be a more complex algorithm that analyzes the patterns, major aspects, sign influences, house influences etc in a natal chart and make matches based on natal chart affinity or “mirroring” and not so much on single aspects. For example if someone is a Mercury dominant and has angles and 5H/8H cusp/rulers in Gemini or Virgo the match-making would give high-priority to Mercury aspects and Gemini/Virgo influence. I have no idea how any of this would be programmed, lol.

posted March 11, 2017 02:53 PM            

Wow Meyrey--so many good ideas!
For the sake of keeping it astrology based (as well as private and confidential, which would attract more users because in today's world privacy is worth more than gold especially to people who've been scarred from having their privacy abused), I wonder though if it would be better to remove all personal content:

Avatars (that you can design yourself--that people you meet help adapt through approving the features you've chosen to select for yourself--so your picture becomes a symbol of you, an evolvable cartoon, rather than your exact image--which is less threatening for some because it allows anonymity to the public but still represents your image). Not to mention, it could end up creative fun making your Avatar and deciding on Avatar features and clothing styles that suit people. An Avatar which helps the app decide what you are interested in physically is also more calculable because it can see which features you tend to reject or tend to be drawn to. I think the analytics would be easier with Avatar feature selections than actual images which can be more deceiving (haven't we all met someone who looked nothing like their picture, and don't we all just choose the photos that make us look out best for the most part?); you get more honesty and less stress with not having to find a good pic that also accurately represents you. Not to mention, some people are very photogenic and will always look better in pics than they do in person, and (the reason many people don't have success online) they aren't photogenic so they are often passed over in images.

Age? Trans personal planets can match you with the age raw he you are comfortable with and then that doesn't have to be public--we still live in an era where we are persecuted for age. Avatars can show crows feet and peppered hair where necessary. Anonymity is very attractive presently, so an app that doesn't reveal age or other things many people choose not to reveal publicly is more valuable. The app can use the birth info in the background to match according to your requirements.

About profile... I think present apps are following a model that allows people to reject each other before meeting. I think remove as much as possible from the profile--changing the focus of revealing the self to attract, to focussing in what you really need in someone else, or what you are really looking for so the app can work more efficiently. Everything could become less egocentric and allow people to focus on the connection itself.

Also, with a selection of optional relationship choices, what profile revelations would fit all of them; we are different with friends than we are with partners. I think we need Avatars to replace image with "type" but by lack of online info, people would be more likely to actually meet each other just for the curiosity. The more we write, the more can be misunderstood and judged negatively, plus people are waaaay harsher online than they are in person, so they'll talk themselves out of meeting someone based on a text or comment.

I like the idea of just an Avatar and this "unseen force" that brings us together... Get the app to match, show the Avatar image that represents them and have them decide whether they both choose to meet. If they do, have collaborating coffeeshops, restaurants or other interested partners become meeting hosts (places with some level of security, just in case), so you don't have to give out personal info before meeting (I mistakenly gave out my number to a guy who harassed me by text for a long time after even though he never wanted to meet--it's clear his whole intention was to just find a sex text buddy or someone he could force it on without their consent). Why not, if both parties agree to meet, they are then led through a "host" selection process which allows them to use the app to agree upon a location, activity and time to meet, and agree whether the meeting should be "go Dutch" or whether one party prefers to pay.. (Yay! Businesses get business cuz we got these people away from their computer screen and into their place to spend money). The app can then let the business know when they are coming and make a reservation for them--effortless... and with a reservation (that could possibly incur a financial penalty if canacelled) they would be more serious and less likely to cancel. (Maybe businesses would even like to offer a discount if dates are booked on one of their slow nights.)

I think it could be better to focus on the premise: Let the app do the work for you. It can be like shopping with a personal assistant--here's what we think will fit you but ultimately you need to try it on (aka "meet").