It’s possible that Gen-Z’ers will find their first date through dating apps. Exactly three hundred dating apps are out there to help you seek romance and explore companionship and courtship. Of all that multitude of dating apps, Sweet Pea stands out with its focus on conversation to help people relate to each other better. Sweet Pea’s signature feature is the “icebreaker” question. Adding a unique and provocative question to profiles makes it easier for users to get a conversation going with a potential match.
Sweet Pea goes live this month after an earlier soft launch. Founder Michael Bruch is the 27-year-old entrepreneur who started Sweet Pea, and he designed the dating app to improve how people communicate with one another.
“I want to help people find healthy, happy relationships and make the world feel like a little bit smaller of a place,” Bruch said. “People are getting worse at just having conversations with strangers. It’s not just a problem with dating apps, it’s social media in general that hasn’t done a good job at helping us empathize with strangers. “
Bruch understands that starting a conversation with a stranger can be annoying, awkward, aggravating and even boring. Icebreaker questions counter this challenge. Sweet Pea users create an icebreaker question for their profiles when they sign up. Icebreakers help people find some common interest so that they can start a conversation. Users can upload videos or tag activities. They can tag locations to search for matches.
The entrepreneur says he surveyed about a thousand different people about their experience on dating apps. “I’d ask: ‘How many matches turn into conversation?’ And people would say, “Oh, one in every fifteen.” So I’m trying to solve that with a tangible product and make the app experience feel a little bit better,” he said.
To kick-start the conversation, here are some dating app opening lines:
- Tell me your life story in five emojis.
- If it was your last day on earth, what would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
- If someone made a costume of you, what would they wear?
- On my way to the grocery store—what can I pick up for you?
- What’s your proudest moment?
- Fill in the blank: I can’t help but laugh when…
- Tell me about a time you were injured.
- What’s the most embarrassing song you know all the lyrics to?
- What’s the worst gift you ever got? (And did you return it?)
- What was your favorite TV show as a kid?
- What was your favorite birthday?
- What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
- Which family member are most similar to?
- What’s the worst opening line you’ve ever used?
Read More: Does This App Fix the Worst Part of Online Dating?