Juggling your career, friends, family and dating like a boss is tough. I have a job, I blog and also try to read as much as possible in whatever little time I can squeeze in. I am excellent at multitasking but somewhere between being a superwoman and the career girl, I just don’t have time for anything else. I hardly meet new people besides old college friends and my colleagues.
The Internet has been breaking artificial barriers that limit our choices in meeting new people and making meaningful connections. Marriages, which would earlier be arranged by parents through word of mouth contact has transformed to matrimonial profiles and advertisements online. There are apps to make friends, to date and to meet like-minded people. While social media platforms, offer space for people to know and meet each other, the element of safety is debatable.
As someone, who has experienced the creepy behaviour by individuals on many of these apps and websites, I know how frustrating it can be sometimes to just chat with someone. The question that always runs in the back of my head is “Is this safe?”
Technology, as always, has proved to be a saviour and has given us a solution for every problem that may have arisen due to it. And this time, it comes in the form of Woo, an app that believes in putting women first. I am sure you are buzzing with lots of questions and I want to run you through each and every aspect of this app.
Signing up
Like most apps, Woo asks you to sign in using your Facebook account. Now, I have a lot of praying aunties and jobless uncles who always want to poke their nose in my business. I would not want them to know anything about my personal life. Woo allays this fear right at the beginning. They do not post anything on Facebook nor do they share your profile info with friends and family. This is a major plus for me.
Creating your profile
Creating a profile is easy and all you have to do is answer a few questions. So they have a section where you can choose your likes or interests. The app has a long list of options some which I found to be a little funny 🙂
For example, I came across options like Dance Machine, Matter of Fact, Meet me on VDay which made me chuckle. Some of the interesting options that I came across were Gluten free, ping pong, horse rider, extrovert and so on. Like I said, you will definitely find something that suits your personality.
Next, you can add your name, age and other details. For women, they have an option where only your initials will be displayed, if that is what you choose. For men, they display the first name. They also allow you to choose your religion or community if you would like that be added to your profile.
Verified profiles
It is so easy to create fake profiles these days and Woo gets that. It encourages all its users to verify phone numbers to get a badge of authenticity from the app. You can add details of your work profile, your degree, college and even connect your LinkedIn profile if you wish. Another layer of added security for women is that in Android phones, users are not allowed to take screenshots of the app.
Woo Phone
Using Woo Phone, women can make calls directly through the app using the internet. Woo Phone allows for greater privacy by allowing the user to keep her number hidden during the call. This special feature is extremely beneficial and is exclusively available for women with men only being able to receive calls. I like the fact that Woo has thought of the little things that matter to make a woman feel secure.
Meeting people
Woo has the good ol’ swipe right and left feature but with a little bit of ingenuity. You can add specific search terms like ‘travel junkie’ or ‘foodie’ to meet people who share your interests.
The app also has an internal tool to analyze your profile to see the probability of meeting like-minded people. It is recommended to complete at least 70% of your profile. You also have the option of asking your matches certain questions to see how compatible you are or to start a conversation on a phone note.
Seeing is believing
Isn’t it infuriating to come across a profile that is well written only to not be able to identify the person? I find it very annoying to come across group photos or photos with children on apps. Woo has strict guidelines in place to ensure that you get to see the person you will be interacting with. They encourage people to put up selfies and solo photos. The pictures are moderated internally to keep a check on fake profiles.
Approach your crush
Remember passing on a little chit to your crush during your college days? Now, you can do it virtually through Woo Crush where you can directly message someone by sending them a ‘Crush’
Paid features on Woo
The Woo app loaded with great features is completely free to install. While most basic features of Woo are available for free, there are some special things kept in store for those who subscribe to Woo Plus. The subscription can help boost your profile to increase your visibility, see who liked you, visited your profile, go back to your skipped profile and avoid ads.
Woo also has a paid feature called Woo Globe which allows you to sort people according to community or religion. It will cost you Rs. 400 for a 3-day access and then they also have long-term plans available.
Friendship, casual dating or the love of your life?
There are times when you just feel the need to interact with newer people beyond your circle and there are times you want to date. Woo has a feature where you can indicate what exactly you are looking for on the app whether it is friends, dating or the love of your life.
Woo app a tag search options that allows you to choose people with similar interests. Cool, isn’t it?
Saying goodbye to Woo
Now, what if you want to delete the app after you start dating someone? While the FAQs clearly state that if you delete your account, all your information are permanently removed from the database I found it a little tricky to delete my profile. I wish they had listed down the process clearly. Hope they work on this 🙂
So my final words, why is Woo the dating app women love?
The app has specialised features for women to ensure safety and protection. Sensitive information like details of name, number and location are kept hidden from public view and cannot be seen by any user. Woo also has a comprehensive set of questions and mechanisms through which it keeps check on the members and they have a large number of verified profiles. It is truly an app that puts women first.
Want to know more about Woo? Do check out Facebook, Instagram
We remember the day seven years back when were travelling in a Mumbai local trying hard to come up withe a name for our blog when struck us; Khushboo was always called a Jack of all Trades. The name stuck (with a slight modification, of course) and Minni was born. Six years, over 100 collaboration, lakhs of readers and several awards later; our love for blogging continues to grow. We continue to write on an eclectic range of topics from the funniest autorickshaw signs that we have spotted in Mumbai to how to bathe an elephant. We are true blue Munni of all Trades and we hope to continue on this joyride with our fellow Munnies and Munnas. 