CNN - Speed dating, singles mixers and other group dating parties have made a comeback since the Covid-19 pandemic ended as singles look to get off their screens and meet potential partners in person. Attendance at dating events in the US grew 42% in 2023 from 2022, according to Eventbrite, and was higher than pre-pandemic. Even dating app companies themselves are throwing singles mixers to adapt to the trend.
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Speed Dating Is Making a Comeback
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Rising Threat of Catfishing: Understanding and Combating Online Identity Deception
CNN - Catfishing, where a person creates a false online identity to deceive others is a growing issue in the digital age. Common motives include lack of confidence, the desire to explore sexual preferences, or engage in relationships outside of real-life constraints. Studies reveal that catfish are often educated men, sometimes from religious backgrounds, and may exhibit traits of sadism, psychopathy, and narcissism. In the U.S., romance scams from catfishing have led to significant financial losses, with $740M lost in 2022 alone. The UK and Singapore also report high losses from romance fraud. Financial losses are particularly high among older victims. Cybersecurity experts suggest vigilance in online interactions to spot potential catfish, such as inconsistencies in stories and reluctance to meet or video call.
by Sen Nguyen
See full article at CNN
Mark Brooks: The key thing that we aim to deliver with online dating services is real people. That's what users pay for - Introductions to real people that will do them no harm. Most quality dating apps have an arsenal of tools to weed out rogues and catfish. Both internal and external. I would like to recommend to you the dating-context-specific tool RealMe. RealMe is an easy-to-integrate platform to protect your users and build trust through simple user verification and seamless background checks - all while providing a new revenue stream. They are a long-term supporter of OPW and my team and I have worked closely with them so their service is specific for dating. Please email me directly and it will be my pleasure to introduce you to them.
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Podcast - the Dating Brain in the Digital Age
CNN - In this episode of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's podcast "Chasing Life," the focus is on love and relationships in the digital age. Skyler Wang, a visiting sociologist at Meta AI, talks about the overwhelming abundance of choices in modern life, particularly in online dating, and how some apps limit options to manage this. He notes that online dating has been transformative for groups like queer individuals, older people, and divorcees. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and chief science advisor to Match.com, shares insights on the constancy of human brain patterns in love and attraction, regardless of technology's evolution. She discusses her development of the Fisher Temperament Inventory, a personality test linked to brain chemistry, which categorizes people into four types: explorers, builders, directors, and negotiators. This categorization aims to help understand compatibility in relationships. She also delves into the concept of "slow love," where people, especially younger generations, are taking longer to find a partner, driven by a desire for deep connection and companionship rather than traditional relationship milestones.
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Grindr Loses Half Its Staff After Trying to Force a Return to Office
CNN - Grindr implemented a return-to-office mandate, leading to nearly half of its employees leaving the company. The policy required workers to either relocate to designated "hub" cities for in-person work or resign with severance. ~80 out of 178 employees chose to leave, citing the policy as retaliatory against a recent unionization effort. Many of these workers were hired remotely. The Communication Workers of America (CWA) filed an unfair labor practice charge against Grindr, which the company disputes. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy allowed employees to voice disagreement with the three-days-a-week office policy but warned of potential consequences for non-compliance. Similarly, Meta required employees already assigned to an office to attend three days a week, with noncompliance potentially leading to disciplinary measures or dismissal.
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Study Finds 75% of Singles Open to Use AI-powered Chatbot
CNN - A new study by Kaspersky has found that 75% of dating app users are willing to use an AI-powered chatbot to improve their chat up lines. 57% of all respondents believe that using AI in an online dating setting to be dishonest. The study found that 54% of single men surveyed said they would be open to using the AI chatbot to deceive a potential partner on a dating app in a bid to make themselves appear funnier or smarter, while 51% of single women respondents admitted they would be using the AI tool to speak to multiple potential partners at the same time.
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Rebel Wilson Launching 'Fluid' Dating App
CNN - Rebel Wilson is launching a new dating app, "Fluid." "This is the first dating app where you don't have to define yourself or tick a box to say 'I'm straight, I'm gay, I'm bisexual,' and you don't have to describe what you are looking for," she says. Wilson is one of the co-founders of the app. She surprised many when she revealed in June 2022 that she was dating Agruma, who is a fashion and jewelry designer. The app is scheduled to be available for download later this month.
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Google to Pay US App Developers $90M in a Settlement Over App Store Policies
CNN - US Android app developers (who earned $2M or less annually from the Google Play Store between 2016 and 2021) will be able to claim money from a new $90M fund Google will establish as part of a wider settlement with app makers over Google's app store practices. The settlement is designed to address app developers' years-long allegations that Google imposes onerous and anticompetitive restrictions on app makers as a condition of hosting their apps on its Google Play Store. Google said it would continue a pricing model established last year that allows US app developers to pay a lower fee, 15%, for the first $1M in annual revenue collected from the Google Play Store.
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Tinder CEO: We're Leaning Into Desire for More Authenticity
CNN - June 22 - Jim Lanzone, CEO of Tinder, discusses the new features, including video, available on the dating app and how online dating is evolving.
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Interview With Bumble CEO - "Making Relationships Better for Everybody"
CNN - Mar 10 - CEO and Founder of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd speaks to Christiane Amanpour about how she is changing the online dating landscape for women. "Technology has this remarkable ability to either perpetuate behavior or to rewrite it," Whitney said. "I was very dissatisfied with the way relationships were set for women. By giving women more control, we are leveling the playing field and stabilizing the situation for everyone. This reduces harassment and rejection. "Why not have consequences for bad behavior? … When you make relationships better for women, you make relationships better for everybody."
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Scammers on Dating Apps and Social Media Made $304M in 2020
CNN - Feb 22 - A record $304M was reported lost to romance scams in 2020, up 50% from 2019. The pandemic has made things easier, creating legitimate reasons for scammers to hide their real motives, claiming they cannot meet in person or need money for medical treatment. According to the FTC, gift cards and wire transfers are the most commonly used payment methods by online scammers, both of which can be difficult to track.
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Chipotle Teams up With Hinge
CNN BUSINESS - Nov 16 - Chipotle, Uber Eats and Hinge are teaming up to create a new menu that encourages dining during distant dates. Hinge users will get $20 off their next three orders of Chipotle delivered with Uber Eats. 10 Uber Eats customers who order from the new menu will have the chance to win dating advice from actress Rebel Wilson.
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Young Americans Are Having Less Sex Than Ever
CNN - June 15 - Sexual inactivity increased among young American men between 2000 and 2018, according to researchers from Indiana University and Sweden's Karolinska Institutet who studied survey data from US adults. Postponement of adulthood and the growth of the Internet and digital media could be reasons for why. Men who were unemployed, had part-time employment or lower incomes were more likely to be sexually inactive, researchers found. Women aged 25 to 34 were also having less sex, with students being most likely to be affected.
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Bumble CEO: Dating in the Age of Covid
CNN - May 19 - How people date during a global pandemic? Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of the dating app Bumble, says her company is helping their users answer that question and find connection from a distance. She talks about how this pandemic may permanently change the way people date, and how Bumble is positioning itself in a competitive market for dating services. "We have actually come out of our two best revenue weeks in the history of the group. People are enjoying digital dating," says Whitney Wolfe Herd.
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Quarantine Together Is a Dating App for These Times
CNN - Mar 29 - Daniel Ahmadizadeh and Christopher Smeder designed Quarantine Together, a dating app for exactly this moment. The app launched on March 8. The app is text-based. Every day at 6PM, the app asks its registered users whether they washed their hands. If they say yes, they are introduced to another user by text. After 15 minutes, the matched users will be offered a link to video chat.
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