Using the Lex dating app: Communicate, not curate
For those old enough to remember, personal ads relied on text to get what we want. The text-based Lex dating app reminds us of that bygone age when you had to communicate the type of person you wanted to be with.
What’s more, this dating app is focused solely on lesbian, bisexual, non-binary, trans, genderqueer, intersex, two spirit, asexual, and queer people– and where there are no cisgender men at all.
While it’s available in Apple and Android stores, you can also download the app here.
Lex dating app makes it personal
Launched last November 2019, this text-based dating app began life on Instagram as @personals around February 2017 and lasted until October 2019. During its time, it posted over 10,000 personal ads.
“In the beginning, it was very free-form. I posted when I had the time, and as it gained momentum and popularity, I started to take it more seriously,” founder Kell Rakowski told Allure.
“We started having a monthly open call for submissions. That was two days per month, and in that time we would gather hundreds of submissions,” Rakowski said.
She then decided that Instagram may not be the right place for her idea and she came up with the idea of an app, which is now called “Lex: Lesbian and Queer Dating.”
“It’s bringing back the old-school way of reading personal ads, reading how people describe themselves, slowing down. It’s a gentler, more thoughtful way of getting to know someone,” Rakowski told the Guardian.
Lex dating app: Communicating is key
This app is entirely-based text-based and is inspired by newspaper personal ads in the classifieds section of a newspaper.
Here, without pictures to influence decisions and with only language to communicate to others, your personality can shine through.
“You read about the person, who they are, what they’re looking for, kind of get a sense of their personality, and then later check them out visually,” Rakowski said.
“I think language is really key in queer communities. We use words to describe ourselves in ways that hetero-straight people don’t. We’re more accustomed to describing ourselves with words,” she added.
She further said that: “I also think it’s just fun, like maybe a relief to not have to just show yourself visually and be judged on face value.”
Using a dating app without pictures
This may be a scary idea to consider in an age of dating apps where you swipe left or right based on the pictures of possible partners.
With Lex, you write what kind of person you, what type of relationship you’re looking for, or what activity you’re into. Again, it’s like the personal ads in the classifieds section of a newspaper.
And it’s not just a dating app. Many are using it to find new friends or just people to hang out with.
“It’s really more than just dating. You can get hot sex, you can get long-term relationships, but you can also find groups of people to hang out with, make great friends,” Rakowski said.
““There are also collaborations that are formed from people that have started teams together, made murals, started bands, along with political action groups, and protest sign-making,” she said.
“We came in as a dating app, but really it’s beginning to be a whole social platform,” she added.