SINGAPORE \u2013 On freelance photographer and videographer Eugene Tan\u2019s LinkedIn profile picture sits a familiar ring styled after the professional networking platform\u2019s \u201cOpen To Work\u201d badge.<\/p>\n
Except, instead of the usual green hashtag banner signalling availability to recruiters, the 23-year-old has a bright pink #OpenToDates badge edited on Photoshop.<\/p>\n
The parody does not stop there.<\/p>\n
In a Valentine\u2019s Day LinkedIn post in the style of the millions of hyper-reflective career essays that flood the platform, Mr Tan writes that beyond a job, \u201cyouths like me are looking for a life partner too\u201d, adding that relationships teach valuable skills such as leadership, organisation, visualisation and empathy \u2013 an acrostic whose first letters spell the word \u201clove\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is, by his own admission, \u201c50 per cent unserious, 50 per cent serious\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf something happens, then it happens,\u201d he tells The Straits Times. \u201cBut if nothing happens, I\u2019m okay with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Eugene Tan resorted to looking for love on LinkedIn after growing tired of dating apps, where interactions felt repetitive and overly curated.<\/p>\n PHOTO: EUGENE TAN\/LINKEDIN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n No dates emerged from the experiment. No romantic confessions slid into his inbox. Instead, secondary school classmates, polytechnic friends and old acquaintances resurfaced to tell him the post was funny.<\/p>\n One unexpected message from Singapore-based matchmaking agency Lunch Actually appeared in his LinkedIn inbox shortly after \u2013 proof, perhaps, that the algorithm nailed the assignment faster than any woman.<\/p>\n Across the platform, especially in India and the United States, users have begun posting dating resumes, compatibility decks, self-introductions and profile banners tagged with labels like #OpenToDate and #OpenToDM.<\/p>\n Screenshots of men posting elaborate dating \u201capplications\u201d and resume-style romantic pitches on LinkedIn have also spread across TikTok, Instagram and X. In the comments, reactions range from mockery and disbelief to admiration over the confidence and creativity behind these posts.<\/p>\n A TikTok search for \u201cdating on LinkedIn\u201d throws up dozens of videos documenting relationships that began on the platform \u2013 particularly in the US.<\/p>\n Among them is US-based lifestyle influencer Paige Goldstein with 21,300 followers. She posted in 2025 that she met her boyfriend on the platform after she began sharing more personal content on it. That expanded her network, a mutual connection tagged her in one of his posts and the rest is history.<\/p>\n Such lovelorn humour, personality and casual self-presentation \u2013 once largely relegated to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok \u2013 have found their way onto LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>