Students struck by Cupid’s virtual arrow with Facebook app iWould

Since Valentine candy conversation hearts started bearing slogans like “Fax Me,” it has been clear that technology adjusts dating protocol for the Millenials and the Net Generation. But where texting has replaced love letters and eHarmony can substitute for the first in-person encounter, the new Facebook application iWould seeks instead to facilitate the realization of relationships.

The idea was born last year at Columbia Business School when John Budish, Business ’10, reflected on a pre-existing Business School tradition: Before graduation, everyone in the graduating class had the opportunity to write down the names of three other students in whom they had an interest as a last-ditch effort to pursue romantic possibilities before graduation. If there was a match, both students were notified. Budish and his classmate, Tariq Chaudhri, Business ’10, decided to expand the concept and make it digital. They brought in Eliza Howard, Business ’11, to work on marketing the app.

Launched on Columbia’s campus last week, iWould allows a Facebook user to add up to 10 of their current Facebook friends to a list of people with whom they would be willing to have a romantic or sexual encounter. The user’s list, as well as use of the app itself, remains secret and invisible to all other Facebook users—unless someone on their list also signs up for the iWould app and includes him or her on their own set of desirables. In that case, when both users have indicated an interest in each other, both receive email notification of the mutual interest.

The goal is to provide the opportunity not to meet someone new, but rather to make a connection with someone familiar. “It’s ambiguous for a reason,” Howard said. “We don’t want to take the fun out of it. It’s a list of 10 people that ‘you would … .’ You figure out what you would do.” Budish’s own experience highlights what iWould could make possible: He was too nervous to ask out a cute girl in one of his courses without knowing how she would react, and he was aware that, if rejected, he would still have to see her frequently in class. He graduated without having pursued her but developed a digital means of eliminating the problem. A year later, the app is live on Facebook.

“What I like about it is that it doesn’t replace any means of communication: We tell you this person likes you back but we don’t go the extra level of asking them out on a date for you. Once you have a match, it’s your responsibility,” Howard said. The app is completely private, with users even coded by number instead of by name, and a user’s list of iWoulds can be changed at any time. The five core members of the iWould team, in fact, are all users of their own application.

The app’s success has already exceeded their expectations, with nearly 10,000 users. As of this week, the app has launched at eight more universities nationally, including Duke and Penn, with a marketing tactic similar to that initially used by Facebook. “We wanted it to work how Facebook did: You start with a few universities, and it organically spreads like wildfire,” Howard said, “But I had no idea it would explode so quickly.” As of the beginning of April, 139 matches had been made between Facebook friends who mutually chose each other on their iWould lists.

Although the app is available to anyone with a Facebook account and friend list, it is targeted to the university student demographic. The app is ideal for the college student looking for relationships but wary of pursuing classmates whom they regularly run into on campus. When Music Hum crushes become so low-risk, it’s no wonder that much of the traffic iWould has already generated is Columbia-affiliated.