Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but if you’re still crying over last week’s enhanced loneliness, perhaps On The Rebound can help fix that. The Facebook app aggregates the relationship statuses of your friends and news feed to figure out who’s single and ready to mingle. Possibly.
Developed by Anthony Coombs and Jon Tran, the app is a less provocative BangWithFriends – except it’ll also provide data of how many relationships candidates have been in since they’ve join Facebook and how long they’ve been single. Using these numbers, On The Rebound calculates the percentage of likelihood that one would be down for a hook up. If they are recently single, the percentage shoots up closer to 100 percent, while those who have been single for longer are assumed to not be entirely over their exes.
To get started, all you have to do is sign onto the app with your Facebook account and pick whether you’re into guys or girls. The app promises to never post anything on your wall – it just wants to read it to see activity and interactivity levels from all your friends.
We gave the app a quick spin and found some pretty awkward matches: An ex-boyfriend’s cousin, an engaged friend, a best friend’s younger brother, a gay friend. Of course, there’s little ways On The Rebound would have been able to detect some of these real life relationships. Since the app also relies on Facebook users identifying their relationship status as “Single,” that eliminates about half of my Facebook friends who have their statues set to nothing.
Another odd thing we noticed is the differences in copy and tone facing male and female users. When I select to hook up with guys, I’m prompted to “Go for it!” or be cautious that he may not be over his ex. When I chose to hit up the girls, however, the app often tells me my lady friends are lonely and desperate, despite the fact that my matches are only about 70 percent. While I appreciate the option for same-gender hookups, a feature BangWithFriends originally lacked, the wording is insultingly sexist and mean-spirited. It’s no surprise, however, that an app developed by men would contain language that celebrates a man’s independence, but chalk a woman’s single status as an opportunity for you to sweep in and save her from solitude.
If you’re look for a rebound, you’re probably better off hooking up with a random stranger than entertaining the options of your recently single friends. But if you do use On The Rebound, perhaps you are rightly as desperate as the app has accounted you for.
