Raya’s first rule: don’t talk about Raya. The dating app for VIPs, returned to the headlines for having propitiated the marriage between the multi-medal gymnast Simone Biles and the NFL football player Jonathan Owens, is based precisely on this cardinal principle. To the “lucky” few who have the opportunity to meet in the inner circle of this app is it is forbidden to talk about the app itself with those outside it. For the rest it is a dating app that works similar to Tinder crossed with the characteristics of a social network for VIPs Column-style.
How do you enter?
First of all, let’s see how to subscribe to this exclusive social network, which has existed since 2015 but has arrived in Italy since 2018. We must first download the app, available for iOS and Android but not advertised (to increase the allure of secrecy), and fill in the required fields. Among the questions is that of realizing a sort of music montage that you associate the person with a song. At that point, the application for registration passes to the scrutiny of the social network and its community. Indeed, an algorithm evaluates how many followers does he have on Instagram who asks for registration and how many people already registered to Raya knows. Then some members are asked if they vote in favor of entry or not. If you pass the gauntlet of the registration process, you pay for the exclusivity of the service $7.99 a month And $2.99 for each direct contact request, something similar to Tinder’s Super Like. Another of the methods to access Raya is the friend pass: it’s about a recommendation from who is already among the users of the app. The friend pass offers the possibility of pass those in line to be evaluated right away, but does not ensure admission.
How do you chat?
The operation, once you are a member, is the same as for Tinder. Let’s take Simone Biles’ account of Raya’s meeting with her new husband to explain the dynamics: «I saw it and thought: “Oh, that’s pretty cute”, so I wrote to him. Then I saw it was in the Houston areaso we have started chatting a little. A couple of weeks later we went out». In practice, two people who intend to get to know each other must both show it with a «like» to the profile of the other. At this point, the “match”. And opens opens the conversation in which if they’re roses they’ll bloom.
Who are the VIPs on Raya
Assuming that the membership list is super secret and none of the famous members (due to the well-known “Fight club”-style rule) can explicitly mention the name of the app, the names of several VIPs who have an account on Raya have been circulated. From Cara Delevingne to Lewis Hamiltonfrom John Mayer to Demi Lovato, from Sharon Stone to Matthew Perry. There are also those who, like Ben Affleck, have had a “laborious” experience. He too is enrolled in Raya but it seems that his first approaches after enrollment have been rejected due to a misunderstanding. Nivine Jay, a well-known influencer also registered with, believed that the profile was fake and rejected the match request: Affleck had to send her a video on Instagram to prove it true. Then the wedding with Jennifer Lopez must have changed the cards on the table.