MONTVALE—In 2018, Julie Griggs, a 2010 graduate of Pascack Hills High School and Montvale native, was living in Manhattan for a six-week physician’s assistant program. She was rooming with her friend and fellow Penn State University alum Danielle Dietzek, a nurse. The two were sorority sisters in college and wanted to spend as much time as possible together during Griggs’ brief stay in New York City.
“Julie is my most fun friend,” Dietzek told Pascack Press.
During that time, both Griggs and Dietzek were trying to get involved in New York’s dating scene, but they were unable to spend quality time with one another when they were out alone with unfamiliar men. Eventually, they decided to try solving this problem by creating dating profiles on sites that had pictures of both of them.
By doing so, Griggs and Dietzek found numerous pairs of men who had close friendships and they went on a handful of double dates. They both said that if they didn’t connect well with the guys, they at least got to have an enjoyable night out together.
“I didn’t have to choose my dating life over my platonic social life because if the date was bad, I didn’t feel like I wasted my time because I was with Danielle.” Griggs said. “This was simply just us solving our own problem.”
Griggs and Dietzek grew to really like double dates, and they got a lot of positive feedback from men on dating sites as well, so after consulting with their families they decided to turn the idea into a business. Soon after, Fourplay Social was created; it launched on Apple’s App Store in October 2019.
The app is free for download and uniquely designed as a social network for single friends to meet and connect in a casual, stress-free manner. Individuals make an account that is then shared with a companion, and they can swipe to find other pairs that intrigue them. Once a match is identified, Fourplay creates a group chat with all four users.
According to Griggs, there is no other app like it on the market.
“Dating apps usually have a ‘freemium’ model, so it’s free to use but you pay for any premium features,” Griggs said. “Those features include filtering people out based on height, religion, ethnicity, or other characteristics. But when you have two users sharing a dating profile, those people might be of different races or religions or even have different ages. So it would be very difficult for another app to replicate what we have as a feature.”
As neither Griggs or Dietzek had experience with creating apps, they outsourced the technical work to a company in India that they could afford. The two sides worked together to come up with the original version of Fourplay Social.
After that, they worked with freelance contractors before deciding to hire a staffer who could handle the technological side of the company.
“We did a lot of investigation online for companies that had good reviews, and contacted companies that had outsourced to them to see what their experience was like,” Griggs said. “We collaborated with them with them to build our MVP, or minimal viable product.”
Both founders wanted to make sure that Fourplay Social emphasized safe, positive dating practices as well. Each said that it is physically safer to be with a friend when you are on a date, and added that the group-dynamic allows for a lower-pressure environment that can ease a person’s potential anxiety during an outing.
“Being medical professionals, we have read a lot of literature and there is a large body of evidence that suggests that since the advent of dating apps, there has been a negative impact on people and their body image and their self-esteem,” Dietzek said. “And we feel as though there is an opportunity to be social and reduce expectations. We are simply giving people a platform where they can meet other single people and they can just see what happens from there.”
Months after Fourplay Social went live, the COVID-19 pandemic started to drastically affect New York City and the surrounding areas. Both Griggs and Dietzek saw the impact they could make by working on the frontlines as healthcare providers, so they decided to temporarily hold off on making the growth of the app their only job.
“We felt like it wasn’t appropriate or responsible for us to be promoting an app for socializing when the laws were asking us to socially distance,” Griggs said. “We kind of looked at 2020 as a wash. It was a chance for us to figure out our mission.”
Once the COVID-19 vaccines began to be distributed to the masses in 2021, they felt it was the proper time to push Fourplay Social again. Dietzek and Griggs have now made the company their full-time commitment, and at press time, the app had approximately 13,000 users, all in the New York City area.
In addition, Fourplay Social has earned a 4.4/5 rating on the App Store.
To this point, Griggs and Dietzek have raised about $400,000 for the company by adding shareholders. A handful of the financial backers of Fourplay Social are Griggs’ longtime friends from her time at PH, where she was a three sport athlete, playing tennis, basketball, and softball.
“Hills is a great school, you get a really good education there,” Griggs said. “I am still close with my high school friends, and it’s really cool that a few of them are now investors in the company.”
The plan is to make the app available in a few more large American markets by the end of the year, and then expand internationally.
Griggs also said that she wants Fourplay Social to help destigmatize the conversation around sexually transmitted diseases, promote the importance of safe sexual practices, and offer users mental health services.
The goal for both founders is to continue to grow the company and make it more of a household name for people looking to get out and be social.
“We believe that Fourplay will not just change the dating industry, but also the collective mindset for single people,” Dietzek said. “It shouldn’t be an endeavor for single people to not be single anymore. Instead, you can just enjoy being with your friends.”
Safety first
Fourplay Social’s FAQ has this to say about safety: Bring your teammate on your date. Also, we recommend you always do your research on who you’re talking to. Red flags include refusing to provide last name, inability to find the person on the internet, or pictures that are obscure or inconsistent.
Additionally, we encourage you to use your device to share your location with someone you trust before you go on a date. Contact Support if you are suspicious of someone. If you ever feel you are in immediate danger, call 911.