Jon Vincent always felt the college dating scene was fun, but a bit difficult. 

‘It’s tough to find the time to meet new people,’ Vincent said. ‘So you end up hanging out with and dating people you already know.’

So in 2007, Vincent thought of the idea for Kikini, a free dating website for college students. Kikini will launch on Tuesday.

Vincent was working at Microsoft in 2007 and gathered five of his closest co-workers and friends to work on creating Kikini. The team approached Kikini as a social networking website. By making it less clinical and more casual, Vincent said the team was able to focus on its main goal — making a dating site that’s fun and free. 

Vincent said Kikini is a place for college students to go to meet others.

‘In college, it’s not about finding the perfect person,’ Vincent said. ‘It’s about meeting lots of different people.’

Vincent and his staff also wanted an easy-to-use website, so users don’t have to take tests or create an extensive resume to find someone, he said.

To start, users must register for a profile. To keep Kikini a college-only website, users must have a .edu address, said Rachel Vincent, the website’s co-founder and Jon’s sister.

Once the student has registered, he or she must upload a photo. After the photo has been approved, the student can then ‘tag’ his or her likes and dislikes. The student can search other profiles in hopes of finding someone to go on a date with.

But the search isn’t solely up to the student. Kikini’s creators developed several algorithms that are able to make date suggestions for users. The algorithms pair users by age, location and pattern recognitions, such as who someone looks at, who someone flirts with and who shares interests with someone, Rachel said.

Rachel said she encourages all students to give the website a shot and provide any feedback. 

‘Take a risk and just give it a try,’ Rachel said.

Rebecca Kaplan, a junior economics major, said she thinks the website will work because it’s different from other dating websites. 

Kaplan said she thinks there are two types of dating websites: the serious, marriage sites like eHarmony and Match.com, and the joking, casual sites like Zooks and Spin the Bottle. Kaplan said she thinks Kikini will be a balance between the two, appealing to college students.

Kaplan said she thinks the main draw to Kikini is it is not focused on finding ‘the one,’ but just the one to hang out with on the weekend. Most college students are ‘looking to have some non-binding fun,’ she said. 

Alexis Madison, an undeclared freshman in College of Human Ecology, said she thinks many college students were looking to try different experiences.

‘You want to experience everything, and you don’t want to be tied down,’ Madison said.

Madison said she initially thought the idea of Kikini was weird, but the more she thought about it, the more she was drawn to it. 

‘It’s kind of difficult to meet people at college,’ Madison said. ‘Having a way to casually meet people and see where it goes is a good idea.’

Madison has had difficulties meeting people because she is not into the stereotypical party scene, she said. She said she thinks the website would be beneficial to her, allowing her to find someone who thinks similarly to her. 

While Ian Carlino, a sophomore magazine journalism major, said he has not had trouble meeting people at SU, he said he can understand why Kikini would be beneficial. 

‘It seems useful for shy people who aren’t sure of their place,’ Carlino said.

He said he thinks the website will work because it reaches out to a different audience. 

‘It’s a good idea, seeing as there is nothing like it out there,’ Carlino said. ‘And it’s attracting an audience that is willing to listen.’

lmrocket@syr.edu