New Dating App, The Grade, Bans "Failing" Singles

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Snap Interactive, Inc. (OTCQB: STVI) unveils The Grade, the first dating platform to ban users who "fail" to meet quality standards and receive "failing grades." The vision of The Grade, which uses an algorithm to assign letter grades to users ranging from "A+" to "F," is to create a community of high-quality daters.  By expelling low-quality users who receive an "F" grade, The Grade enables users to have a high-quality experience by viewing potential matches without sifting through hundreds of undesirable, inappropriate, and unresponsive people.

Grades are based on entirely objective criteria and are determined by a sophisticated algorithm that analyzes user behavior based on three categories – popularity, responsiveness, and message quality.  Users must maintain one of the passing dating "grades," ranging from "A+" to "D," while users who are undesirable or behave poorly will receive a failing "F" grade, and will be expelled from using the app.  Users are given instructions on how to improve their grades and receive a warning if they fall below a "C" grade. 

The popularity grade is based on the quality of a user's profile and incorporates how often a person is liked on the app.  The response rate grade is based on how often a user responds to messages and gets a response back.  The message quality grade is based on the content of a person's messages and checks for spelling mistakes, use of slang, and inappropriate words.   The three categories combine to make up a user's overall grade, which is visible for other users to see. 

The concept of The Grade (www.TheGradeDating.com) was informed by substantial market research that revealed a deep dissatisfaction amongst singles of current popular mobile dating offerings.  A recurring theme, particularly from women on popular mobile apps, was that they were unhappy with the quantity of low-quality daters and the frequency of inappropriate, hostile, and sexually suggestive messages. 

The results of a survey of 1,000 mobile daters showed that 73% of women who use mobile dating apps said they have received a sexually suggestive photo, 77% have been asked to send an inappropriate photo, and 90% of women have received sexually suggestive messages.   When asked if they would prefer a dating experience that expelled low-quality users, 91% of women responded with a "Yes." 

Snap's Chief Executive Officer, Clifford Lerner, says, "Although mobile dating apps have exploded in popularity, feedback has painted a picture of horrific user experiences on existing dating apps.  We believe mobile daters deserve a superior experience and decided to create The Grade to eliminate the inappropriate, hostile and undesirable singles that currently taint the mobile dating pool. As one of the first adopters of the Facebook Application platform, we have a history of being pioneers in the online dating space, and we believe we've done that again with The Grade."

Lerner continues, "Building and scaling a high-quality algorithm to assign grades  that were trustworthy, accurate, and informative is essential in order for The Grade to gain trust and mass appeal of consumers.  Our experience in big-data analytics and cutting edge technologies uniquely positioned us to create the sophisticated algorithm, which analyzes the content, length, and quality of every single message a user sends to a match in addition to every swipe to determine a person's grade.  We believe we've created the high-quality mobile dating experience that users are demanding."

The Grade is currently free and available to download by visiting TheGradeDating.com or by searching 'The Grade Dating' in the App Store on iTunes.  The Grade may provide metric updates, news and additional information on its Twitter Account @thegradeapp or https://twitter.com/thegradeapp. 

IR Contact: 
[email protected] 

Stephen Hart 
Hayden IR 
[email protected] 
917-658-7878

PR Contact: 
Adam Handelsman
[email protected]
212-518-7721

About Snap Interactive, Inc.
Snap Interactive, Inc. develops, owns and operates dating applications for social networking websites and mobile platforms.  The Grade is a mobile dating application catering to high quality singles.  SNAP's flagship brand, AYI.com is one of the largest online and mobile dating applications on the Internet.  For more information on SNAP, please visit http://www.snap-interactive.com/. 

The contents of our websites are not part of this press release, and you should not consider the contents of these websites in making an investment decision with respect to our common stock.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. iPhone® is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. Android® is a registered trademark of Google Inc. AYI.com® is a registered trademark of Snap Interactive, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "plan," "project," "seek," "target," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: general economic, industry and market sector conditions; the Company's future growth and the ability to obtain additional financing to implement the Company's growth strategy; the ability to increase the number of active subscribers or new subscription transactions; the ability to enter into new advertising agreements; the ability to diversify new user acquisition channels or improve the conversion of users to paid subscribers; the ability to anticipate and respond to changing user and industry trends and preferences; the intense competition in the online dating marketplace; the ability to release new applications, the success of new applications, or the ability to derive revenue from new applications; and circumstances that could disrupt the functioning of the Company's applications and websites.  In evaluating these statements, you should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties and those described under the headings "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement was made, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws.

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SOURCE Snap Interactive, Inc.

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