D.C. Power Players Are Paying Thousands of Dollars to Find Dates | Hacker News Reader

D.C. Power Players Are Paying Thousands of Dollars to Find Dates

politico.com

12 pointsmetadat9 comments

A bit sad that a lot of people don't know how or don't have the time to meet and talk anymore, without having to resort to buying "services".

This is not a recent concept. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchmaking

Do you feel the same way about online dating services?

> You could do it, too. For several thousands of dollars a month — double what the average person spends on rent for a one-bedroom in D.C. — this matchmaker will not only seek out potential soulmates with your exact criteria in mind but will do the sort of investigative work that, coming from you, would seem invasive and creepy — trawling LinkedIn for singles with degrees from prestigious universities, or NextDoor for homeowners in affluent zip codes, or LegiStorm for Congressional staffers’ bios, salaries and contact information.

These are the people running our country? Gross and creepy.

> trawling LinkedIn for singles with degrees from prestigious universities, or NextDoor for homeowners in affluent zip codes, or LegiStorm for Congressional staffers’ bios, salaries and contact information.

Wait, you mean that the person being checked out hasn't signed up with the agency and consented to the check? Ugh. I thought that recruiting spam through github was bad enough. Dating spam from politicians' matchmakers is, like, next level. I couldn't bring myself to read the whole article, but some parts were funny.

The lobbyists, you mean?

Interesting. I do this but for westerners looking for women in Ukraine, as an American myself. Didn't realize the market potential here and I am probably selling myself very short.

What does a mail-order-bride service have in common with high powered D.C. folks dating, other than both sound creepy?

Are you really inserting a plug for your services?

..or if I'm wrong and you're not just hawking your wares..

Can you share any insights beyond TFA based on your experience in the space?

Dating market needs arbitrage, news at 11.

Mail order bride, from Ukraine, doesn't really exist anymore due to immigration laws. There is almost no way to bring someone to the USA (most of my clients). The process is lengthy even if someone is willing to travel to Ukraine, meet the person, and live here while processing a marriage and visa.

This appeals to digital nomads greatly who also have problems in the dating market.

I used to do it as a charity project, and still mostly do, but I think I should start charging in light of learning this exists in D.C.

As for insights, I would say men are getting extremely desperate in the dating market and the current products like Tinder exacerbate the problem for the majority of guys who receive almost no matches.

There is also not a single legitimate online dating website in Ukraine. They are all pay per message and filled with fake or automated profiles. They are staffed from office buildings by people paid to pretend to be the girl, or now more so just done as small outsourced work.

I also do agree it's viewed as creepy to go looking for a girlfriend or wife using a service, and that's probably a stigma that needs re-evaluated in today's more global dating atmosphere.

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