Chris Pleines
Chris Pleines is the German founder of Zu-Zweit.de and Datingscout, websites that compare online dating services and share relationship advice. He co-authored the book Online-Dating für Dummies (2021) and conducted one of the first AI-based studies analyzing online dating profiles.
Early life
Pleines grew up near Stuttgart, Germany. He studied Media Informatics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he earned a German Diploma degree (Master's degree).
Career
In 2007, Pleines began exploring online dating platforms and documenting his experiences in a blog.
In 2011, he launched Zu-Zweit.de, which became a resource for reviews and comparisons of online dating services in Germany. The platform later expanded internationally through Datingscout.
Pleines has been interviewed as a dating expert on German television, including Pro7, RTL, Galileo, and ARD Mittagsmagazin. He has also spoken at the dating conference iDate.
He has contributed dating and relationship advice to international magazines such as Newsweek, the New York Post, Cosmopolitan, and VICE.
In 2021, Pleines co-authored the book Online-Dating für Dummies, published by Wiley-VCH.
In 2018, he led one of the first large-scale studies on online-dating profiles, which used AI to analyze more than 20 million dating profile pictures across 16 countries. The analysis highlighted differences by age, gender, and geography.
Publications
- Book Online-Dating für Dummies (2021), Wiley-VCH.