Dating App Exclusive
If you’ve watched the viral videos of Ben Affleck and Matthew Perry’s alleged exchanges with Raya matches 700 times in a row, you likely have a lot of questions. While no one can say for sure what might prompt a famous actor to leave a video for someone who unmatched him, knowing how the Raya dating app works is a little more straightforward.
Officially launched in 2015, Raya — billed as an “online membership-based community for dating, networking and making new friends” — quickly became known as the exclusive app for. 13 Dating Apps You Will Actually Want To Use In 2020, From Bumble To HER Everyone goes to a waiting list, and then we try to bring people in that have clearly spent some time on their profiles. Have filled out all the apps, want actually looked actually they exclusive more time than just clicking a button.
Launched in Feb. 2015, by tech developer Daniel Gendelman, Raya is an invite-only, exclusive dating app that deems itself a “Digital Dinner Party” for people in “creative industries.” Though its intentional secrecy and intrigue have earned the app the title “Illuminati Tinder.” In 2018, Gendelman told The New York Times that Raya had over 10,000 members across “dozens” of countries. While members are not allowed to name-drop who they’ve seen on the app, Us Weekly, reports a number of celebrity sightings on Raya including Demi Lovato, John Mayer, Channing Tatum, Kiernan Shipka, Drew Barrymore, and Lizzo.
How Do I Get On Raya?
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Like a Telfar Shopping Bag, a Raya membership is hard to secure. According to The New York Times, Raya has an 8% acceptance rate, meaning joining the app is akin to getting into an Ivy League college. According to the app’s website, Raya admission is a multi-step process. You need to fill out an application viewed by “hundreds of anonymous committee members.” You also need a referral from someone (or, according to some users, a lot of people) already on the app. Then, you wait.
Ryan, 27, a model and artist from Brooklyn, got on Raya in 2018.“Being on it makes me feel like a hot b*tch, because it’s supposed to be so exclusive,” Ryan, 27 tells Bustle. “It’s a good way to meet creatives and cool people that usually wouldn’t be on Tinder.”
How Long Does It Take To Get Off The Raya Waitlist?
In 2018, Business Insider reported the Raya waitlist was over 100,000 people. Additionally, if you don’t make the cut, Raya likely won’t send you a rejection notice — various users say your application will just say “pending” forever.
Ryan shares that having many friends already on the app refer him likely helped move his application along. Though he was only on the waitlist for a week, Ryan shares that in the last year, he’s referred a dozen of his friends. It’s taken them multiple weeks to hear if they’ve been accepted.
“When people sign up they see their contacts who are on the app and if [they] pick one for a referral, they get a pop-up asking if they would refer you or not,” Ryan says.
While the site says Raya adds new members every day and that it could take “anywhere from a day to a few months” to get admitted to the app, it’s hard to tell how long the average wait time is. Laura, 32, an artist and model from LA, says that she’s been on the waitlist for over two years. One reviewer on the App Store has been waiting since 2017. Even former Bachelorette Hannah Brown took to Instagram in Feb. 2020 to complain about being on the waitlist for months.
'I’ve even messaged them asking and they just told me to wait,” Laura tells Bustle. “I get the impression that’s it’s just influencers on there. A friend with a lot more Instagram followers than me was accepted, and told me that’s largely what she sees.”
How Does Raya Work?
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Though Raya may be dubbed, “Tinder For Famous People,” the music and slideshow function makes it feel more like a ...PowerPoint. “You pick a song and a make a slideshow of your pictures,” Ryan says. “While you view the slideshow, the song plays in the background.”
Like Tinder, Raya operates on a swipe, match, and message system. If you click on someone’s photo, their slideshow and song will start playing. From there you can swipe “Yes” or “No.” If both people say, “Yes,” you can text message or video chat within the app. But, matches expire after 10 days if no one bites the first message bullet, and you’re only shown a limited amount of profiles per day. “It’s like five to 10 [profiles] every few hours I think,” Ryan says. As one App Store reviewer puts it, “You only see a few people per day, so it’s not just a numbers game.
In addition to the slideshow, users upload one main picture for their profile, a short bio, along with their age, location, and work. “You apply with Instagram,” Ryan says. “So your handle is on the page.” Ryan says he has 8-10 photos on his slideshow. While your Instagram handle is on your page, you will have to upload your own photos.
Unlike Tinder, your potential Raya matches can be from all over the world. You can’t filter by location — only age and gender. There’s a “Maps” page to find users near you, but Ryan says it’s an extra cost to message people near you.
The Rules Of Raya
Ryan couldn’t share screenshots of the app, because that could get him kicked off. These guidelines go for celebs too. In 2018, Vanderpump Rules’ Stassi Schroeder tweeted about being kicked off for simply “talking about” the app in public. Once you get accepted to the app, Ryan says you have to agree to a list of rules. On Raya’s website, the guidelines say applicants must be over 18, not have public depictions of hate, and can’t have “consistent displays of excessive wealth.”
The guidelines read: “Every member is expected to follow our simple rules of respect, trust, and privacy. Raya removes former memberswho don't share these same community ideals. Furthermore, we reserve the right to suspend or remove any membership we no longer feel strengthens our community.”
How Much Does Raya Cost?
According to the App Store, once you’re admitted to Raya, a membership is $9.99 per month. But users can pay more for extra in-app purchases, such as extra likes.
What Famous Couples Met On Raya?
Because of the heightened secrecy rules, it’s hard to say which celebs found love on Raya. Though in her book, The Girl with The Lower Back Tattoo, comedian Amy Schumer alludes to meeting her ex, furniture designer Ben Hanisch on the app. But who knows, maybe Affleck will leave you a video next.
If you were to ask anyone, they would most likely tell you that they've used a dating app. A far lower number, however, would tell you that they've used the dating app Raya on their quest for love. Raya is an exclusive dating app with a rigorous application process that yields an approximate 8% acceptance rate, according to Business Insider. The idea behind the exclusivity, according to Raya's website, is to meet 'someone that could change a life.' In order to do that, you must apparently be some degree of famous.
In addition to actors and models, Newsweek reports that YouTubers, fashion industry workers, and social media influencers are among the selection of elite users. The application process entails a lengthy questionnaire that is to be reviewed by a committee appointed by Raya. Once accepted, of course, members will have to pay a monthly fee to maintain access to the exclusive community. Despite the fact that members are typically successful, monthly fees reportedly come to about $8.99, according to former user Ginny Hogan in an article on Elite Daily. It's also noted in the same article that confirmation or denial on your membership can take anywhere from a few days to several months. While the process is in-depth, access might just be worth the wait.
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Who's on Raya?
Once you enter the exclusive domain, you might find yourself coming across some familiar faces. Celebrities such as Elijah Wood, Ruby Rose, Cara Delevigne, and Moby are just a few names among the star-studded membership pool, according to Newsweek. Despite having access to a dating app that most people will never see, celebrities struggle through the dating process just like everyone else. Mega-stars Drew Barrymore and Ben Affleck have both reportedly had less than stellar experiences with the app.
Barrymore got candid about her Raya usage during an appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,' telling the host,'I got stood up, and I didn't match with anyone. And my friends gave me this sort of bloated sense of false confidence. They were like: 'You should try it. You will do great.' It was a car wreck.' While the 'The Stand In'actress is no longer using the app, US Weekly reported that she felt the selection of potential suitors was like flipping through a copy of their magazine.
Barrymore isn't the only celebrity who's run into issues using the app.
Unmatching Ben Affleck
They say stars are just like us, and Ben Affleck is no exception. Affleck has reportedly been doing some swiping on Raya, and one of his matches found his profile just a bit too good to be true.
While the dating app is full of successful and well known users, model and actress Nivine Jay saw the 'Batman' actor in her matches and assumed the profile was a fake. As a result, she unmatched him. She would be in for a big surprise later on when Affleck sent her a message on Instagram containing a video, hoping to prove that the Raya profile was, in fact, legitimate. In the video, Refinery29 quoted Affleck saying, 'Nivine, why did you unmatch me? It's me.' Jay would later take to TikTok to reveal her faux pas, but it doesn't sound like the interaction sparked a budding romance. In the future, however, Jay will most likely think twice before unmatching with a celebrity.
Most recently, 'Friends' star, Matthew Perry found himself going viral on TikTok after matching with a much younger Raya user. In a since deleted post, featuring a video from FaceTime, Perry is seen playing a game of '20 Questions' with Kate Haralsan, a Raya users who was only 19 at the time. Perry is 51. Haralsan told Page Six, 'A lot of people were saying I'm a bully and mean for posting this, and it made me feel kind of bad, but at the same time, I feel like a lot of guys in Hollywood are talking to all these young girls and it's something that I think a lot of people should be aware of.'