Two things we actually believe

Everyone is lovable if you get to know them. Not everyone is right for you, and no one is owed your time. But the assumption you arrive with changes what you find, and most dating apps are built to help you rule people out in under a second. This one is built to help you understand somebody.

Don’t just notice the differences — try to understand them. Your fingerprint and theirs will disagree somewhere; that is guaranteed, and it is the point. A difference tells you where someone’s life shaped them differently from yours. Ask about it before you decide what it means.

This is also the standard we hold each other to here. "I did not click with them" is always fine. Treating someone as less than a person because they are unfamiliar to you is not.

Starter profiles, and everyone else

Soda City Crush opened with a set of starter profiles. They are not real people: the pictures are computer-generated — no real person's photograph appears in any of them — and the descriptions are written rather than collected. They are there because a dating app with nobody in it empties out faster than it fills, and they are removed one at a time as real people join, so the number only ever falls. See the pricing page for the full explanation.

Everything else is a person in Columbia who signed up. There is no automated account that messages you, no imported list, and nothing that pretends to be a member you can talk to.

That only holds if it is patrolled, so:

• Report anything that feels automated. In a conversation, the ⋯ menu has Report as a bot or fake as its first item. It takes one click and the reason is filled in for you.
• Over-report rather than under-report. A wrong bot report costs a real person nothing — a human reads it. An unreported bot costs everybody the thing that makes this different.
• What we look at: messages that answer a different question than the one asked, profiles that could be anyone anywhere, a fingerprint that does not match how the person talks, and pressure to move to another app or a payment.

If we ever add anything automated — a suggested opener, say — it will be labelled as such on the page it appears, not buried here.

Be a real person

Use your real first name, recent photos that are actually of you, and your real age. The whole premise here is that you are met as yourself; a profile that misrepresents you wastes your time first and everyone else's second.

• Photos should be recent, of you, and clearly show your face on at least one.
• No photos of other people, celebrities, or images taken from elsewhere.
• One account per person.
• 18+, no exceptions.

Be decent, especially when you are not interested

Most unkindness on dating apps happens at the exit. Nobody owes anyone a match, a reply, or a second date — but the way you decline is a choice.

Consent applies to conversation too

Consent is not only about meeting in person. It governs what you send.

• No unsolicited sexual messages or images. Ever, to anyone, at any stage. This is the fastest way to lose your account here.
• Ask before escalating the tone of a conversation, and accept the answer.
• Do not screenshot and share someone's messages, photos, or fingerprint results. What is shared with you was shared with you.
• Respect what someone has kept private. If a fingerprint section is hidden, do not press for it.

Not allowed

• Harassment, threats, intimidation, or continuing contact after being asked to stop.
• Hate speech or slurs targeting race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
• Asking members for money, investments, or financial help of any kind.
• Promotion, recruiting, selling, or driving people to another platform or paid service.
• Sexual content involving minors, or any content sexualising a minor — reported to the authorities, not merely removed.
• Sharing anyone's private information: address, workplace, phone number, or messages.
• Impersonating another person, including someone you know.
• Content glorifying violence, self-harm, or illegal activity.

A note on how small this is

How we enforce this

Reports are reviewed by a person. Depending on what happened, we may issue a warning, remove content, restrict an account, or remove it permanently. Anything involving a credible threat, money, or a suspected minor results in immediate removal, reviewed afterwards rather than before.

If you think we got it wrong

Email appeals@sodacitycrush.com with your username and what happened. We will look again. We are new at this and we will make mistakes; we would rather hear about them.

Reporting is confidential

We never disclose who reported an account. Blocking someone is silent — they are not notified.