Your Soulmate Algorithm
Tender is a dating site founded by Angela Carney and CTO Jobe Preston, using PEGML emotional-mapping algorithms to help find a perfect match. However, Jobe then ousted Angela with backing from the Fraser Foundation in September 2018, installing Malcolm Chandler as new CEO.
It's uncertain what Chandler and the Fraser Foundation have in store for Tender, but they're taking advantage of the PEGML algorithms to sort users and display them to certain Exclusive Partners via the "Regent Dashboard."
Beginning around the same time as the takeover of Chandler as CEO, RED-Buzz began reporting that, in cities like Athens and Rome, "catfishing" on Tender seemed to be skyrocketing. Rather than traditional catfishing, many of the "dates" are diseased and malformed, with at least one date trying to bite their prospective boyfriend.[1]
During the launch of Tender's beta, Trust No More, a conspiracy website, has begun leaking internal documents, implying that Tender is collecting biometric data from its customers for some purpose.
After Tender was apparently shut down, Preston took its assets and launched an underground Blood for Trade website, styling himself as a remora.
Alternate Reality Game[]
An official ARG involving Tender was set up in February 2019, also involving Trust No More. Users are invited to sign up for a beta of Tender. Questions and videos are innocuous on the surface, but have a strange undercurrent: users may choose interests like "cats" or "music" but also "thanatology" and "illuminati." They're asked to rate their loneliness, or may be asked to meditate for a minute to pictures of couples not talking to each other or solitary individuals undergoing emotional crises.
A user signed up Tender is presented with a number of "quests" which must be completed in order to level up their profile.
Links[]
- tenderbeta.com: Tender's website for the ARG.
- trustnomore.com: Trust No More's website for the ARG.
- [1]: GameDetectives' site for working through the ARG puzzles.