Phew! It’s raining hard here in our San Francisco offices today.
Commuting to work was crazy. Mini rivers were flowing down the sidewalks and the wind nearly blew the headphones off my ears. And you can bet I almost dropped my laptop after having to chase my umbrella down the street a few times.

But y’know what?
It’s all worth it when I get into our beautiful office and sit down to read some of the feedback you guys have been sending in, and realize that SKOUT is bridging the social gap for so many of us around the world.

Did you know that some of our users don’t even use SKOUT for just flirting, but also use it as a chat medium to discover new friends in other areas?

Shawn recently commented on our Valentine’s Day Post, “Great app. I met someone really amazing on here! We are frequent pen pals because of the distance, but you never know where life will take you!”

So cool to hear, Shawn.
Often times, we find ourselves so focused on how our users are using SKOUT to flirt and date that we completely forget that our users could be using our App to simply get to know other people, expand their social network, or possibly even to just get ideas for what to do on a weekend vacation in a new city!

But we want to hear it from you guys.
What do you use SKOUT for? Do you use it to flirt? Do you use it to find dates? Do you use it just to chat? And when do you find yourself using our App? We want to know! Leave us a comment and fill us in — you already know how much we love hearing from you.

And as always? Happy flirting, Skouts.
XOXO Cheri XOXO

Happy Valentine’s Day, Skouts!
It’s a gloomy Monday here in the San Francisco offices and the rain is drizzling overhead, but this is the perfect weather for snuggling inside with a cutie and embracing the passion in the air.

But if you seem to find yourself out of luck (and out of a date) on this otherwise romantic holiday, we’ve got some fantastic news for you.

Our application is all about connecting singles who are looking to date and flirt in your area and bringing you all together. In fact, Skout has over 3 million members, with hundreds of thousands of them online at any given time, while thousands of new members join every single day. And with odds like that, the chances of you finding a last minute Valentine’s Day date (or at least someone to chat with and keep you company) are pretty dang good.

In the past, we’ve run you through a few different awesome ways that you can increase your chances of scoring a date through Skout.

For example, sending virtual gifts through Skout is a great way to break the ice in a non-traditional way. It’s easy to get a little more attention when you start off a conversation with a box of chocolates or a glass of champagne. It’s cute, it’s different, and it definitely brings an unexpected smile to the face of those who receive them.

We even have new Limited Edition Valentine’s Day Gifts for you to send out to your favorite cuties! Check ‘em out on the App!

There are other fun and easy ways to get your flirt on this Valentine’s Day. And while we’ve definitely supplied you with plenty of dating tips as well as adventures (& misadventures) of our own, we have a quick summary here for you to help keep you on the right track:

1. Come up with a friendly intro! A simple hey or hello is passing when you’re trying to get someone’s attention, but something creative like an opening joke or personalized open-ended question (i.e. “I notice you wear a lot of pink in your pictures. Why is that?”, etc) will generate more feedback for you and help start a conversation.

2. Update your profile pictures! Take new ones, post more angles of you, etc! Keep your entire profile up to date (including your status, your about me section, etc) to help other Skouts know that you’re a real person and worthy of response.

3. Don’t be desperate! Just like in real life, try to be a little smoother with your approach.  Guaranteed, Skouts are more likely to respond to someone who comes off more casual and cool, rather than aggressively in need of a date.  Heh.

4. Comment on someone’s pictures with something specific and thoughtful! Everyone appreciates a “Hey, you’re pretty hot” compliment, but a, “Wow, that red dress looks great on you” seems less like spam and is more likely to generate a smile.

5. Consider who your competition is, and try to stand out! Self explanatory, yes?

With that said, be sure to check out our “Find Flirts” feature to see who’s currently online and active in your area, then start making those connections! Being alone on Valentine’s Day is completely up to you. But just remember that there is an awesome solution just a tap away on your smartphone — no matter where you are.

And as always? Happy flirting, Skouts.
XOXO Cheri XOXO

PS. Be sure to let us know how your Valentine’s Day is going, what you have planned, or wether or not you flirted with some cuties through Skout to bring in this romantic holiday! We’d love to hear from you.

Okay, Skouts. We’re listening!

One of the main issues that a few of you seem to have had (aside from the very helpful app design suggestions) are douchebags and perverts you run into while using our App.

But fear not! We have been deploying our solution and have made huge improvements in the recent past.
Skout now employs an entire support team full of amazing people who are here to sniff out these scumbags and eliminate them from our service.

In fact, when one of our Community Managers discovers that someone is spamming everyone with inappropriate content, or that a certain person is being needlessly aggressive/rude/etc to everyone on the App and ruining the fun for everyone? We take swift and immediate action.

We have a zero tolerance policy for chodes and morons.
If we find that you are doing anything remotely against our “Have a SAFE and FUN time” policy, we kick your ass outta here! Your device ends up completely banned from our servers and you are now rendered completely chat-impotent. Be gone with you, tools! You are no longer allowed to pollute the user experience on Skout!

Naturally, there is an appeal process for those of you who feel that you’ve been banned unfairly. So no worries on that end.

But of course, we can’t just do this on our own!
The only way we can truly know who is ruining the fun for everyone on Skout is if you guys take action.

We need your help! If you see any inappropriate photos, someone solicits you for sex without your consent or invitation, or if someone violates our community standards [http://m.skout.com/terms.jsp] You get to pull the Community Justice card and report this user to our staff!

Step 1. Click the “Report” button above the chat.

Step 2. Select the type of harassment.

Step 3. Complete!!

Use the “REPORT” feature above a chat or inappropriate photo to identify the losers and signal to our support staff that something needs to be looked into! We have people constantly on the ball, making sure that we get rid of these jerkoffs and improve the overall experience for everyone.

So let’s get these Skout streets clean, Community! Pool together and help us make Skout fun and awesome for everybody! You guys are the best, and we couldn’t ask for a cooler crowd of helpful and fun people.

Oh, and don’t forget to drop by the iPhone App Store or Android Market and support us with a 5 star rating! (The banned d-bags tend to give us bad reviews, so drown them out!) We love you guys; Keep letting us know what else we can do to help you!

And as always? Happy flirting, Skouts.
XOXO Cheri XOXO