OKComrade

OKComrade

"Forget OKCupid. Too bourgeois."[1]
Web address okcomra.de
Commercial? No
Type of site
 Online dating service, Social network service
Registration Free
Available in English
Spanish (TBA)[2]
Users 8,000+
Owner "Jacob"[3][4]
Created by "Jacob"[3][4]
Launched May 4, 2014

OKComrade is a friendship, dating and social networking website currently based in Facebook and Twitter parodying the popular dating website OkCupid except specializing in left-wing politics with posts catering to anarchists, communists, and socialists.[5][6]

Background

OKComrade was created in May 4, 2014 on the social networking website Facebook as a leftist alternative to OkCupid.[4] In May 5, 2014, the OKComrade Twitter was launched.[7][8] In May 22, 2014, OKComrade expanded to Instagram.[9]

In an email interview with The Huffington Post, one of the site's creators Jacob said "We want this to be a safe space for leftists to meet people who share our values. [...] Your politics reflect those values as well as your entire worldview and it makes sense to seek out the companionship of those who share similar world-views."[4]

There are plans for a standalone website as well as a mobile app.[2][3][4][10] In reply to Doug Henwood's comments, an OKComrade admin stated there will be an app similar to Grindr and Tinder.[10][11][12]

Reception

In May 2014, OKComrade achieved 4,000 Facebook likes.[10][13]

Critical Theory, while critiquing OKComrade with "Of course, like most radical politics (and the rest of the world, I suppose), the page is woefully dominated by dudes," concluded that OKComrade "will prove to be an invaluable resource for meeting people."[14] The Guardian commended OKComrade with "Perhaps OKComrade offers us more than a date – it invites us to find ways of applying our principles to our relationships. By consciously, and compassionately, dating fellow leftists, we're taking a step towards creating a shared culture. This is a powerful blow against alienation, and an optimistic sign that another world is possible."[3] The Huffington Post reviewed the OKComrade submission system via Facebook as "an imperfect system. But hey, love is never perfect."[4]

References

  1. ↑ OKComrade. "OKComrade - About". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 OKComrade (8 May 2014). "OKComrade - CALL FOR DEVELOPERS. We have been receiving messages...". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Margaret Corvid (14 May 2014). "Always ask on a first date: are you a Tory?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Carina Kolodny (15 May 2014). "OKComrade Is Exactly What You Think It Is". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  5. ↑ Alan White (11 May 2014). "“OkComrade” Is OkCupid For Communists And Is An Actual Thing". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  6. ↑ Elizabeth Elias (13 May 2014). "OkComrade: A Dating Page For Communists". Oyster. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  7. ↑ OKComrade (5 May 2014). "OKComrade - Test Tweet is live: https://mobile.twitter.com/OK_Comrade". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  8. ↑ OKComrade (5 May 2014). "Twitter / OKComrade: Test.". Twitter. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  9. ↑ OKComrade (22 May 2014). "OKComrade - We're now on Instagram! http://instagram.com/p/oUG05JHLYw/". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Brendan O'Connor (14 May 2014). "Meet OkComrade, the OkCupid for communists". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  11. ↑ Doug Henwood (12 May 2014). "Doug Henwood - The pic above is a bit heteronormative, eh?". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  12. ↑ Michael Thomas (14 May 2014). "OkComrade, the communist version of OkCupid, hits the Internet". Digital Journal. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  13. ↑ Radhika Sanghani (16 May 2014). "Communist match-making: Would you ever date someone with the complete opposite political views?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  14. ↑ Eugene Wolters (15 May 2014). "OKComrade: The Radical Left's Amazing Answer to OKCupid". Critical Theory. Retrieved 2014-06-29.

External links