Online blind-dating… so crazy, it just might work

A new website has moved to find a place in the crowded online dating market by carving out its own rather peculiar niche: The blind date.

Crazy Blind Date offers to set up adventurous (or perhaps that should be desperate) single folk in several US cities on, well, a crazy blind date. All they have to do is provide a blurred photo of themselves – it is a blind date, after all – and put a short blurb on the site outlining their expectations for the date.

The coolest thing about the site is that it tries to avoid giving people time to reconsider their decision by prompting users to agree to a date either that night or the next day. It makes sense – after all what seems like wacky craziness during the night can often look like “what-was-I-thinking” silliness when exposed to the cold hard light of day.

The site acknowledges women in particular may have some security concerns about dating people they have never met or even seen, so dates are organised for public places and there is an option to go on double dates – “This way they’ll only need to bring half a canister of mace,” site founder Sam Yagan told Inc.com.

And best of all, using the site is free – its main role is to promote another conventional dating site also owned by the site’s founders.

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