While most people rely heavily on looks while speed dating, this new trend in London is forcing people to do the exact opposite – choose by personality. ‘Paper Bag Speed Dating’ doesn’t allow you to see the face of the person you’re talking with. It’s basically a looks-free hookup party, where participants place a paper bag over their head. You still get to make quick decisions just like with regular speed dating, but the deciding factor is personality, not physical appearance.
Paper Bag Speed Dating is the brainchild of the people behind a new London-based dating app called LoveFlutter. They organised the event as a part of their #SayNoToShallow campaign. “Could you get a date using just your personality?” they asked, challenging people to attend their paper bag dating event. 30 women and 30 men signed up. They were given a paper bag each and were asked to personalize them using various designs – they could add quirky personal messages to serve as conversation starters. Later, they had to wear the bags on their heads. Some people did beautiful drawings, while others wrote stuff like “I used to be a spy,” or “Does my head look big in this?” 
“I have three kidneys,” and “Secretly, I want to be a hand model,” were some of the other messages displayed on the bags. 24-year-old Jacques, who attended the event, said: “It wasn’t as materialistic as normal speed dating and you actually do get to know their personalities.”
“It was an interesting balance to Tinder and Grindr, but also quite difficult as it’s hard to get to know someone in two minutes,” added Ian Maddison, 31. “Your first impression does include how people look and that was denied.” 29-year-old Sophia said that she thought a few people revealed more about themselves than they would in a normal face-to-face meeting. Most participants agreed that the event was a ‘really good laugh’. 
Dubbed the ‘thinking person’s Tinder’, the event was a big hit in London and is soon to hit other cities like New York. “We’re reminding people that using a dating app isn’t just a game of superficial swiping, especially if you’re looking to get on an actual date, where looks do matter, but it’s personality that counts,” said co-founder David Standen.
Of course, the app itself doesn’t have pictures of people wearing paper bags, but they do blur out pictures. This forces people to read the bio section and actually find out something about the person they might end up meeting. Apart from this one distinguishing feature, LoveFlutter is pretty much the same as all other dating apps. 
It’s nice to get to know someone before finding out what they look like, but it’s going to be interesting to see how these relationships progress once faces are revealed. Experts feel that LoveFlutter might really be on to something great. “With the obsession of the selfie and digital narcissism, more and more focus is placed on looks alone,” said Research Psychologist Dr. Andrea Kallias. “We all want an attractive partner, of course, but what we need is someone who is psychologically compatible.
As Dr. Romas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at University College London puts it: “Wit is sexier than looks and unlike looks it determines long-term compatibility.”
