Tired of endless swiping on dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge? Enter the Aphrodite Project, a student-run initiative that aims to create a tailored approach to online dating through a matchmaking algorithm.
Applications for the 2024 UW edition opened up on Jan. 23. Those interested sign up with their school email and fill out a 20-minute questionnaire, which asks about deal breakers, lifestyle preferences, personality traits, attachment styles, and future goals. After the algorithm runs, users receive their ideal match on Feb. 13, just before Valentine’s Day.
The project was co-created by Aiden Low and Denise Yeo, both in their third year at the time of its creation and on exchange from the National University of Singapore. Low was an exchange student at UW, while Yeo was on exchange at the University of Toronto (UofT). After a successful trial run in Singapore, they brought the project to UW and UofT in 2020.
Low said that the inspiration for the Aphrodite Project came from hearing friends complain about dating apps, as well as wanting to provide a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. “I wanted to create a space where you can come as you are, and just meet someone who will accept you fully for who you are,” Low said.
He added that the format of the Aphrodite Project — one personalized match — allows for a comparatively kinder dating app experience. “People do put a lot more humanity into approaching their match,” Low said. “We’ve seen people in the follow-up surveys mention that it was a really nice online dating experience, because at least people understand that it’s a safe community, and you’re matching with someone in the community.”
Jennifer Fatt is a UW student in the first year of her master’s degree, who tried both the romantic and platonic pools for the Aphrodite Project in 2020 and 2021. She said the Aphrodite Project can be for every student, particularly because a platonic option is available.
“It’s just a fun way to meet new people, especially if you’re somebody that doesn’t go out that often, or if you’re a little more shy, or if you’re looking to add to your social group,” Fatt said. An added bonus is that matches are in the same life stage and on the same campus, she said.
Fatt also found the Aphrodite Project survey format a great way to reflect on who you are. She met up with two of her matches — both in different programs from her — and got along “very well” with both. For the romantic pool, she went on a couple of dates with her match, but found they were more compatible as friends.
“You can really build some good connections with it. The only trouble that I had was that I sometimes found that matches, instead of being complementary, were very similar to who you are,” Fatt said. “I find that sometimes compatibility [is easier] when you have some differences, and you can balance each other out.”
The friendships she made were difficult to maintain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fatt has not used the project in recent years as she’s now in a relationship with a UW engineering student, who she met in the first year of her undergraduate degree.
In the 2023 run, there were 4,059 UW students and alumni who signed up for the project and 3,715 who completed the questionnaire. The majority were in their fourth year of undergrad (1,040), third (1015) or second (709). The most common major among participants was computer science (753), electrical and computer engineering (330) and mathematics (252).
There were almost twice as many cisgender men (2,406) than cisgender women (1,258) who participated last year at UW. Other participants identified as non-binary (27), a transgender man (8) or a transgender woman (6). A large majority identified as heterosexual (3,254), while others identified as bisexual (218), homosexual (104), pansexual (49), questioning (40) asexual (31) or demisexual (19).
More than 10,000 people participated across all universities that year.
Maya Bozzo-Rey, marketing and communications team lead for the Aphrodite Project, said that more than 3,000 people across all schools had signed up in 2024 as of Jan. 24. “I wasn’t expecting that many people on the first day,” she said.
In addition to UW and UofT, the Aphrodite Project is available to students and alumni at McMaster University, the University of Western Ontario, Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of British Columbia, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Hong Kong.
Participants are only matched with others from their university or college, with the exception of MIT and Harvard. Schools can be included in the project by request. “We have forms available for people to request their university, and if we see the university come up enough, we start marketing to that university specifically,” Bozzo-Rey explained.
More than 80,000 matches have been made through the Aphrodite Project since 2019. There are currently two matching pools — romantic, for those looking for a romantic connection, and platonic, for anyone seeking friendship. The ratio tends to gear towards the former, with about 90 per cent of participants opting for the romantic pool. Currently, participants can only sign up for one pool.
New features for 2024 include increased safety measures and resources. “It’s been extremely important to make sure that we keep everyone safe, because we have 10,000 people signing up for this [every year], and we’re bringing them together,” Bozzo-Rey said. “We do feel a responsibility to make sure everything is as transparent and safe as possible.”
The National University of Singapore, through their Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practicum Award, granted Low and Yeo about $10,000 to start the project. To this day, however, the project runs on donations — expenses include website hosting fees, creative software, servers, and email service. Low said he has paid for some of the expenses out of pocket.
“We truly do it out of passion,” Low said. “We’re not trying to do what other dating apps do and make you pay for better matches, keep you addicted to swiping — because we want to match people well.”
“Everyone on the team is volunteering their time and their efforts, alongside working full-time or studying full-time,” Bozzo-Rey added. “So it really is a group of really passionate people that want to keep it running.”
More than 20 people are dedicated to the success of the Aphrodite Project in a variety of roles, including engineering, UX design, research, and marketing.
Low said that those who work with the Aphrodite Project have used that experience to develop their careers — for example, volunteers in the engineering department have landed internships and jobs by listing their work with the project. “It’s really nice to see people grow along the way,” he said.
Moving forward, Low plans to continue to grow the Aphrodite Project and optimize each participant’s experience. To that end, participants are encouraged to complete the follow-up survey to help with future years.
