Leah Thompson – Staff Writer

This Friday a new dating app called Buzz will be hitting the market. Buzz is still in its testing phase, but a beta launch for the app will be held between 8:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. on Friday, April 22 at Patrick’s on Third.
The theme for this Friday will be “Download Buzz to Get Buzzed.” This theme allows people to earn a free drink at Patrick’s after downloading the app and creating a profile. While at the bar, users will have the chance to meet with others who are willing to have face-to-face interactions.

Buzz was designed to increase in-person interactions by finding its users’ compatible matches within a 500-meter radius. This close distance allows users to meet people within their vicinity, find where the most popular bars, clubs, and restaurants are near them, along with being able to meet matches within minutes.

Aazib Tassadaq, a recent Gustavus graduate, is the founder of Buzz and hopes to re-invent the dating scene through a more honest and forward platform, especially after the pandemic left people feeling disconnected from one another.
One aspect that Tassadaq and his team want to combat with Buzz is catfishing. In order to combat this common issue that is found on many dating apps, Buzz has a safety feature that requires users to take photos with their camera instead of uploading them from their personal gallery.
Ideally, this would prevent users from uploading outdated photos of themselves, using filters that change the user’s features, and the uploading of fake photos.

With the safety feature in place, a user’s selfies are set to expire after two weeks, requiring them to update their picture frequently. This allows everyone using the app at a bar, club, or other popular space to easily recognize their matches.

Since the app is still in its Beta testing phase users are able to set a meeting spot anywhere, however, when the final public launch is published, Tassadaq and his team are hoping to have various partners.
“However, when we do a full public launch and have various partners, we plan to let users pick from a variety of partnered locations to meet with their match,” Tassadaq said.
Unlike other dating apps, Buzz plans to implement safety protocols for when users meet in-person at a partnered site. Although this feature hasn’t been released yet, when it does, users will have the option to hit an emergency button in the app to alert that they feel unsafe. This would immediately alert the venue and help the user get out of the situation quickly and safely.

“One of our goals is to build more quality interactions specifically through our compatibility test. People are more than their physical appearance and Buzz’s compatibility test is a step in the right direction.” Tassadaq said.

Another reason behind the push for a new dating app is that many other dating platforms are becoming less and less effective at matching people in the long run. With Buzz, people are highly encouraged to meet in person in a lively environment that can easily bridge the gap between the users.
As Buzz goes through its last stages of testing, the app is being promoted locally and advertised on Instagram. Patrick’s has been a big supporter of the app so far. Not only will the bar be hosting the launch party on Friday, April 22, but Buzz also got a shoutout from the weekly trivia group that plays at Patrick’s.
“The purpose of this launch is to get feedback from people and try to understand what they like about the app and what they don’t like about it so we can make changes accordingly,” Tassadaq said.
The Buzz team will test for the following one to two months before taking all of the user feedback to make positive changes to the app. The full public version of Buzz is set to be launched around the end of the year.

To help promote the app around campus, the team is asking for Gusties to 1) promote their launch on social media, 2) go to the launch, test the app and give them feedback, and lastly, 3) follow their Instagram: @buzzdating and tell friends about it.
To help promote the app, and help a fellow Gustie out, students are encouraged to go to the beta launch for the app that will be held between 8:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. on Friday, April 22 at Patrick’s on Third. A free drink is provided to those who download the app and make a profile.