My month on Badoo: a long read but thank me later

By April Franklin

In June, I began a month-long research project for my podcast and blog called The Date Diaries. This whole idea has been three years in the making and it all started after I read a 2011 Okay Cupid study on dating trends. The result of the study basically says that Black women get the least amount of responses from men of all races on dating apps. I was shocked and appalled because being a black woman I know how dope and beautiful we are. I became low-key obsessed and wanted to find out why the “brothas” wasn’t checkin’ for us. So I decided to go slightly undercover and see what these apps are all about.

Now I am not completely new to dating apps, I have used Tinder in the past, and had an unsuccessful stint on Bumble. But I wanted to take my research to another level and create a guide to some of the alternative less popular apps and see how a Single Dope Black Woman can use it to her advantage.

After talking to a younger friend of mine, she suggested I use Badoo. My friend is about 10 years younger than me, and people her age have grown up using apps as a way to meet people. She claims she has met some “quality” men, so I figure I had nothing to lose and decided to take one for the team by logging on and documenting my experience.

Since many dating apps follow their classic “swipe left, swipe right” model I will be comparing this dating app to Tinder for this analysis. I will be rating this app from 1-5 on usability, quality of prospects, and features.

 What Is Badoo?

According to Wikipedia, “Badoo is a dating-focused social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006.”  It has over 400 million users worldwide. Connecting people in over 90 countries. It is accessible via IOS and Androids systems and on the desktop.”

 In my opinion, Badoo is like Tinder on steroids.

 Week 1

 I created a profile (which takes less than a minute) chose some photos and got to swiping. According to an article on Livewire your profile is your “personal introduction to other users.” But you wouldn’t know that after seeing the blatant lack of effort 90 percent of men put into creating their profiles. I took my time choosing a variety of photos that not only showed how beautiful I am, but my personality and interests, and my caption  was clear about my purpose. It read:

“This is sort of an experiment… I’m a reporter that hosts a podcast about black millennial dating. If you are an experienced dating app user, swipe right--And if you think I am cute swipe right. (Smile emoji, heart emoji)”

Swiping through profiles of men it is very common to see one low-quality photo, no caption, and a slew of “private” photos. (I had to learn about those the hard way, more on that later.)

I am not sure which women are swiping right on these guys, but it was apparent that no matter how attractive a man may or may not be, most men believe all they need is mediocre looks and penis in order to be chosen.

The only area it seems men are creative is their screen names. I have seen them all from Mr. “MakeUSquirt” to “Dr. PussySlayer.” The use of interesting handles gives me the nostalgia of my Black Planet days. Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed, and sort of turned off by the majority of what I saw the first week. I knew I was in for a long month.

During my first week, I really didn’t engage too much, I wanted to see all the features of the app, and analyze what I found.  A few men stroked up conversations that didn’t go anywhere. You know how they go.

Hey, how are you?

I’m fine…

(days later)  Hey!

How are you?

The difference Badoo has from Tinder is that your communication to people isn’t exclusive to your matches. There are many ways a person can come across your profile and send you a message. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this at first, but you have the option of declining by “skipping” an unwanted message request without having to engage.

Week 2

This week I discovered what made the app so popular… its live feature. It similar to Facebook live without the crazy algorithm. I actually enjoyed tuning in the live broadcast of a guy named Mike. There is just something about seeing someone in their element and their personality shining through that can quickly turn a guy from 6 to a strong 8.

I was inspired by Mike to host a few live broadcasts myself, on average I had about 20-30 viewers interacting with me. I would rate bad profiles and give men tips on making them better. It was fun and I made a few virtual friends.

Weeks 3 and 4

I was the most active on the app during these weeks. I found a few guys willing to talk on the podcast, and I also met 2 men in person. None were nothing to brag about. I actually met a guy from Buffalo the week after my experiment was over, only time will tell how that situation ends up. I talked to a lot of people but none that I was willing to give my time, so I am not sure if I was the issue or if it was the app.

 So here are the results for Badoo:

1 = Horrible experience

2 = This app needs work

3 = It’s aight’  

4 = I’m in lust 

5 = It’s lit!!!

Usability: 4

It is easy to use if you can read.

Quality of Prospects: 3

Your preferences are not limited to people in your area. Depending on your preference, unlike Tinder and Bumble, there were more men of color. I had dudes from as far as Africa trying to make me their Zumandan bride.

Features: 5

Badoo is really a social site that many people use for dating. The app has many features such as “lookalikes” and like lists, there is so much you can explore and meet people other than simply swiping left or right on a picture. The private photos is where men store d*ck picks on the app. I was shocked when I discovered this feature, but I gathered a collection for later research.

My overall experience was a 12 out of 15 which isn’t bad. I log on every now and again when I am bored. This summer I am exploring the world of dating apps, dating apps. Next up: my month on the BLK app, who is logging on with me?

April Franklin is self-proclaimed “older millennial” that doesn’t associate with younger millennials.  She is a mother of two equally silly kids that rightfully take after their mother. After working nearly 13 years in healthcare, she got her B.S. in Journalism and made a career switch to media. She is now a reporter and local host of WXXI’s Weekend Edition in Rochester NY. April is also one third of the podcast “Kisses and Conversations,” that explore black men and relationships.