Take Your Awkward First Date To The Next Level With Peekawoo, Grouvly Apps That Promote Group, Chaperoned Meet-Ups

Things that are awkward: first dates; online dating; chaperones. So why not make a super awkward app that brings together all three? That seems to be the logic behind new Asian dating apps such as Peekawoo, Grouvly and Paktor.

Where Western apps like Tinder offer users the chance to meet in one-on-one encounters, the practice is taboo in Asian cultures, Agence France-Presse reports. As such, daters often don't feel comfortable meeting strangers in public and instead follow more traditional patterns of courtship.

But before you think this is a real-life version of MTV's "Parental Control" (we know you watched!), understand that the dating apps help out by providing chaperones for the occasion and setting up group dates. So, less awkward? Maybe.

The setup is similar to Grouper, which matches people based on Facebook profiles and then asks them to each bring two friends. Hong Kong's Grouvly picks the spot for your meet-up and even allows you to prepay for drinks.

Better still -- there's no pressure to go home with someone. When an American guy offended a Filipina woman by asking her to go home with him, Peekawoo kicked him off the site. And other dating apps have been known to boot users already in a relationship, CNN reported.

Online dating still has a ways to go in Asia to catch up to its popularity in the U.S. Only 5 percent of locals in Hong Kong met a partner online compared to 22 percent in the U.S., according to a 2011 study. According to the Pew Research Center, while 5 percent of married or committed couples met online, 59 percent of people think online dating is a good way to meet people.

One added benefit, as far as we're concerned? Apps that facilitate group dating mean there will be more people around to break up the first-date awkward silences. So, win!