Apparatus and method for coordinating the matching and initial communications between individuals in a dating application

A system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
• receiving user information and matching criteria associated with a first individual, the matching criteria specifying one or more characteristics of one or more individuals from a pool of individuals;
• verifying the user information associated with the first individual to selectively establish a verified status for the first individual;
• generating a match between the first individual and a second individual from the pool of individuals based at least in part on the matching criteria and the verified status for the first individual;
• and
• enabling network communication between the first individual and the second individual in response to the match.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• receiving user information and matching criteria associated with a first individual, the matching criteria specifying one or more characteristics of one or more individuals from a pool of individuals;
• verifying the user information associated with the first individual to selectively establish a verified status for the first individual;
• generating a match between the first individual and a second individual from the pool of individuals based at least in part on the matching criteria and the verified status for the first individual;
• and
• enabling network communication between the first individual and the second individual in response to the match.