If the only action you’ve gotten this semester has been eye tag in the Deece or the typical TH party one-night-stand, don’t worry (yet). There might be a new way to find The One on campus: a Google Form on Fizz.
I would say that the existence of Fizz is a contentious one, and being labelled as a “Fizz user” isn’t really something to be proud of. So, I’ll say it quietly: I’m a Fizz user. What can I say? This school is notoriously anti-social, and I’m nosy. I like to know what the people are thinking! And about a week ago, the people were saying something that piqued my interest.
Someone posted a suggestion for Vassar to make a soulmate match-making form, as some other colleges do. Shortly after, another user rose to the occasion. And so it was born: a QR code link to the glorious Google Form entitled “VMatch: The Student-Run Soulmate Matcher for Vassar Students!” that would offer Vassar students a glimmer of romantic hope during the grim time that is finals season. Some people rejoiced, some said it would be embarrassing to fill out, and some said we should work on talking to each other in person first. I, personally, enjoy a good time and a little bit of mystery. So duh—I filled it out.
The questions on the VMatch form are wide-ranging. The first preliminary questions cover the bases of the participant’s contact information, their sex assigned at birth, whether they are more masculine or feminine presenting, and which identity would prefer or be open to in a match. What is not asked: the participant’s name. The form states that “The matching process is blind to names—your answers guide the match, not your identity.” The questions then grow more intense, asking if the participant believes in soulmates, or if they believe that saying “I love you” is a promise. The form doesn’t shy away from politics; it poses the essential inquiries of voting behavior, abortion rights, environmentalism. Of course, there are also questions that are relevant to being in a relationship, to best match relationship types with one another. The form asks the participant whether or not “My partner’s physical attractiveness is important to me,” “I generally like to take control during sex,” and “I say what is bothering me, even if it makes my partner uncomfortable.”
Since we are all dying to know more from and about the mystery cupid who will be determining the course of the rest of our romantic lives, I decided to reach out to the anonymous user who created the soulmate form and ask if they would be open to being interviewed for Her Campus. They kindly obliged and chose to remain anonymous.
First, we got down to business, to the numbers of it all. Anonymous said that they currently have 166 responses, and they are “aiming for at least 200 to have a good sample to make good matches, but the more the better!” The Fizz post with the Google Form link has almost reached 1,000 upvotes, so it sounds like Fizzers are a lot of talk and not a lot of game. With fewer participants, it will be harder to match people accurately. And as for the process of making said matches, Anonymous said that they will “filter down the results to pool people with their respective gender, orientation, and such, as well as their class year and some other factors. From there, I will begin to draw matches (based on the other questions) between the pools of responses according to desired genders/orientation/year/etc. Important questions will have a higher priority in the match process to ensure better compatibility. It is important to note that I will not be referring to people’s names during this process; I won’t even see them, just the responses.”
Some critics on Fizz despaired at the need for a form like this to exist. One user posted, “what about the old school approach of respectfully approaching the people you attracted to?” To that I say, this form doesn’t serve as a replacement for meeting people naturally. It’s simply a fun and unconventional way to be paired up with someone who you may not have met otherwise. I asked Anonymous their thoughts on this, and if they think people taking this route to find a relationship is reflective of the social scene on campus.
“There are plenty of people on campus looking for relationships, but for some—even many—people, it is difficult to start something like that organically. A good lesson to learn is that the ‘social scene,’ as you put it, is what you make of it. People who socialize, go out, and such will meet people by doing just that. Alternatively, this is just another facet of the scene, a way to find and meet someone, that caters more towards the less social population. There’s nothing wrong with either of these things, and they’re not mutually exclusive, so don’t think there are only introverts filling out the form. In fact, a majority of the respondents described themselves as a party person. Regardless, the soulmate form reflects the social scene insofar as it is another aspect of it, reflecting the numerous types of people present in the scene,” said Anonymous.
As for when we can expect the matches to come rolling out and wedding bells to ring, Anonymous said, “I’m still working on a timeline, but definitely by the beginning of the spring semester. I’ll probably have results sooner than that but I haven’t decided if I should release over break or wait until we’re back on campus.”
Personally, I’m excited to see how this all plays out. Do I believe that you can find your soulmate at Vassar? Who knows! But what better way to find out. Well, maybe there are better, more romantic ways. But love found from a Google Form on Fizz definitely makes for a funny story.
Want to find a Vassar soulmate of your own? The form is open until Friday, and it is linked here: https://forms.gle/4tobhRPTiERBhBdk7