So yesterday, I asked the Imgur community if they'd like some matchmaking... And got so much more than I'd bargained for. And now it's time to deliver.

Yesterday I posted this image along with a description of how I'd like to try doing some matchmaking for Imgurians. Original post: https://imgur.com/gallery/FhIOI7b/

Support for this idea was cautious at first, but it snowballed.

This is about how it felt to try to keep up with my inbox yesterday.

I have done nothing but compile data into a spreadsheet for the last 29 hours.

As of the time of writing this, I have exactly 1,201 people ready to be matched up. There were a lot of missing or mixed up details. Some of this was people not reading, some of it was that I didn't illustrate clearly what stuff meant ( FYI everyone, M4F means you're a man, and F4M means you're a woman. If you messed this up please message me a correction ). Some of it was because Imgur no longer allows edits to descriptions or images on Most Viral content, so once that thing hit FP, I couldn't clarify anything. Live and learn.

But two things happened as I was going through all those messages that were really really cool.
The first thing relates to the amount of hate mail I got:

In 1200+ messages there was not one single troll, naysayer, asshole, prick, hard-charger, negative-nancy, bastard, dickhead, jerk, numbskull, roid-rager, stick in the mud, douchebox, 4-channer, 9-gagger, or any other form of rat-snitch-Brian-the-good-time-ruiner. Not a single one.

Every single message I've received to date has been 100% curiousity, participation, gratitude, and/or support. Holy hell, Imgur. I have been directly and genuinely thanked by more people in the last 24 hours than the entire rest of my life combined... And I'm Canadian! It is a surreal thing when it just keeps coming and coming and coming.

This experience has reminded me in a big way that Imgur is exactly the sort of community I want to be a part of.

Okay, so now that I have the data compiled, I'm going to start matching, using a mix of geographic closeness and age-closeness to the best degree possible. When I have exhausted the number of possibly-romantic matches, I will then continue matching the remainder so that everyone can at least get a pen-pal out of this endeavor. Both parties from each match will receive a message containing the other person's username, identified gender, age, and approximate region of residence. I was not originally planning to include these extra details, but it has turned out to be necessary. If anyone is uncomfortable with this, please message me and I will avoid releasing any unwanted information. This process is likely to take several days, so bear with me. If you got a message from me containing this post's URL, then I did get your submission and I'm working on it.

Once I've sent the messages out, the rest is up to you guys. Please remember that I have done absolutely NO filtering for common interests (other than their participation in Imgur) and have NO means of verifying any of the details of the data provided. Take all prudent precautions to keep yourselves safe, and just be rational adults about stuff. If you don't like your match, that's fine. You are under NO obligations to talk to your matchup any more than you want to.

***** While I will be attempting to pair people based on geographic proximity as a future consideration, I do NOT endorse or encourage the abandonment of current social distancing protocols for in-person meets currently! *****

And remember that any conversation is only as rewarding as you make it. If you don't put any effort in, you won't get any effort back.

What happens after all of this? Well, I've been thinking about that, and an idea is formulating. I think that what I shall do is at the beginning of every month, I'll match everyone up again. With priority going to those who didn't get matched up last time. This way, I can leave enrollment "open", so anyone can jump in or drop out as they please. A sort of... Imgur friend of the month program? I think this would strike the right balance where you're not being bombarded, but you're also not stuck with who you get on the first try if you don't click.

I've been asked by several imgur-ers if I want their help in automating this process. And while I thank you all for your support, I'm of the opinion that the lack of an algorithm here might actually be why everyone's being so trusting in this process. A human at the helm just feels better. And I want to keep this giant spreadsheet of data I've collected in my own hands only. So I have no plan and no interest in developing any sort of app.

Some people have suggested that I set up a Patreon to support this initiative. I'm financially secure and don't need to beg for money, so I'm tentatively thinking about making such a tip jar AFTER the first round of matchups is complete to prove out the concept, and dedicating any generated revenue towards projects and charities that resonate with the human connection theme on a monthly basis. That way, the ungodly amounts of time I'm putting into this will feel like a philanthropic mission instead of a philanthropic chore. Anyways, I haven't committed to that course of action yet, I'm kind of just making this up as I go, I'm interested to hear what you guys think about it. Where do you want this whole thing to go?

ALSO! Some of the users who want to participate had to email [email protected] instead of using the imgur chat system. Would those users please make a post in the comments saying something like 'Need points for chat system', and would everybody please throw some upvotes at any such comments you see?

The e-mails are a pain in the butt and the imgur messenger system has turned out to be surprisingly robust. I had over 1000 messages through it in 1 day without breaking it. I highly recommend that anyone who emailed me try to get onto the imgur chat system for communication with me.

STOP. GRAPH TIME!

For the data enthusiasts out there, this is the age and geographical distribution of the 1,235 imgurians who have signed up. Yes I added 34 more while I was writing this post. Based on the gender and preference data, I am anticipating being able to make about 300 potentially-romantic matchups, and 300 non-romantic matchups.

Shortly after this posting I will stop actively pulling in more new people for this round, so that I can focus on making the matches. But if you message me with your Username, Country, State/Province, City, Gender, Preference, and Age, then I will add you into the pool for next month. Anyone who has incomplete information with me, please send the rest of the details needed.

And finally, for those who have been asking if I'm an alt account of certain famous imgur personalities or employees, I am no such thing. My main account has been used to make the occasional gifs and get into character-limited arguments on this site for the last 7-ish years. I made this alternate account so that this endeavor would end up points-neutral, and not destroy the inbox of my main account.

Thank you all for reading all of this, for supporting this insanity in progress, and for participating in the Big April Name-Swap. Now I'm going to go get some sleep before I start hallucinating, and then begin the fun part of the matching.

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UPDATES!
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Thursday morning: I have now finished ALL non-USA matches. 314 so far, of which 160 have relationship potential. USA is now all matched up, just have to get the messages out! 537 pairs of them. Hooooo boy.

If you are from a completed region and you have not received your chat message, let me know and we'll figure out what went wrong.

Cat Thanx