MASHABLE - Tinder is supporting the UK government campaign, Better Health: Every Mind Matters, to reduce the stigma of loneliness among young people. A survey by Tinder of ~1,000 18-25 year old singles found that "companionship" was the top "dating label" they are looking for when using apps. According to England's Community Life Survey 2021/22, 89% of 16-24 year olds have felt lonely at least once. Tinder users in England will see in-app messaging about resources on the National Health Service's Better Health: Every Mind Matters Loneliness page, and a series of influencers will talk about loneliness. The partnership aims to reach more young people with information and resources to help alleviate loneliness.
175 posts categorized "Outlets - Mashable"
Tinder Backs UK Government Campaign to Fight Loneliness
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Anupam Mittal Shares How He Managed to Raise Funds in Early Days
MASHABLE - From chasing VCs to becoming one, Mittal has become more than a matchmaker. His Shaadi.com venture is India's largest matchmaking platform, where Mittal constantly innovates with shifts in times and technologies. His gig as a Shark at the popular business reality Shark Tank India has made him a household name. Mittal laments that back in 2006 when he first stepped out to raise funds for Shaadi.com, there were hardly any VCs in India. He packed his suitcase and went to Silicon Valley, where all the Private Equity biggies and VCs were huddled. But it was way tougher than he could imagine. Mittal doesn't reveal the name of the first VC but says that the process took 4-5 months and they could garner the required funds.
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OkCupid Debuts ChatGPT-Generated Matching Questions
MASHABLE - The AI chatbot ChatGPT has had a chokehold on the internet since it debuted in Dec. 2022. Almost immediately, dating app users started using the service to write messages to matches. OkCupid has started experimenting with asking users matching questions generated by ChatGPT. The app's global head of communications Michael Kaye asked ChatGPT what questions to ask on a dating app and what questions to ask when dating, and here's what the chatbot replied:
- Are you more of an introvert or extrovert?
- Are you a morning or night person?
- What's your favorite way to spend a weekend?
- What do you value most in a partner?
- How do you know when to take a relationship to the next level?
- How do you balance your own needs with the needs of your partner in a relationship?
The questions have been answered more than 125,000 times and counting, and Gen Z is surely leading the charge. 31% of Gen Z daters on OkCupid don't think that using AI to create a profile or message others on dating apps is a violation of trust.
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Tinder Users Are Using ChatGPT to Message Matches
MASHABLE - Once they match with someone, Tinder users ask ChatGPT for an opening message based on their interests. Then they copy and paste the output and send it to their match. One "Tinder veteran" used ChatGPT to generate a poem for his match. She loved it, saying a guy hadn't written a poem for her before. With using an AI bot on Tinder, there are potential ethical concerns at play here; the dominant from these examples is disclosure. How would a match feel if they knew the messages were AI-generated?
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Tinder Users Say 'Situationship' Is a Valid Relationship Status
MASHABLE - In an in-app survey among Tinder users aged 18-24 in the UK, U.S., and Australia last month, 1 in 10 respondents said they prefer situationships as "a way to develop a relationship with less pressure." The app saw a 49% jump in members adding "situationship" to their profiles from January to October this year.
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Tinder Has Created a Collection of Healthy Dating Guides
MASHABLE - Tinder has launched a series of "healthy" dating guides in collaboration with No More, a global non-profit dedicated to eradicating domestic violence and sexual assault. Some guides examine potential red flags, while others look into how to approach the subject of sex and intimacy. There's a range of information about going on an in-person date safely and maintaining respect throughout the dating process. The content is available on No More's website and will be found in-app on Tinder starting on November 26th for two weeks. This will appear via a swipe card redirecting Tinder users to No More's site.
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Bumble Reveals Dating Trends in 2023
MASHABLE - Bumble has released its annual predictions for what we can expect in the new year. Emotional needs are high on people's list of priorities.
- New year, new me(n) (74% of men say they've looked inward and analysed their own behaviour more than ever and have a clearer understanding of toxic masculinity.)
- Guardrailing (63% of daters say they're clearer about emotional needs and boundaries.)
- Love-life balance (54% care more about their work/life balance than their career status.)
- Open casting (One in three daters are now more open to considering dating beyond their "type")
- Ethical sex-ploration (53% believe it's paramount to express sexual wants and needs early on in a relationship.)
- Wanderlove (33% of people on Bumble are now more open to having relationships with people not in their current city.)
- Dating renaissance (Per Bumble's data, 39% of people on the dating app ended a marriage or serious relationship within the past two years. Some of them are using dating apps for the very first time.)
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Tinder Is Launching Tinder Uni in the UK
MASHABLE - Tinder Uni can only be accessed by students with a uni email address (ending in ac.uk), and users will have to confirm that email address in order to gain access to the feature. Per Tinder research, 53% of graduates in the UK met a current or previous partner while studying and 62% of those are still with that partner. Tinder has launched similar features in other countries, namely Tinder U for U.S. college kids.
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Bumble Makes Cyberflashing Detection Tool Available as Open-source Code
MASHABLE - In 2019, Bumble launched its AI tool 'Private Detector', which alerts users when they've been sent an obscene photo and automatically blurs the image. Now, Bumble is making a version of the tool available to the wider tech community on GitHub. Rachel Haas, Bumble's VP of member safety, said in a statement, "Open-sourcing this feature is about remaining firm in our conviction that everyone deserves healthy and equitable relationships, respectful interactions, and kind connections online."
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Bumble Is Bringing 'Ted Lasso' Dating App Bantr to Life
MASHABLE - Bantr is the fictional dating app that brought together characters Rebecca Welton and Sam Obisanya in the TV show Ted Lasso. In the show, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is Sam's (Toheeb Jimoh) boss - but they didn't figure out they were talking to each other due to how Bantr functions. The app doesn't show users each other's photos and instead lets them connect through a text-only conversation. Beginning this Thursday, Bumble users will be able to experience Bantr for themselves. Bantr Live, a weekly event available to Bumble users for free, launches on Oct 13 at 7:00 p.m. local time. Like on Bantr, Bumble users will connect with personality first, without any photos shared. They'll chat for three minutes and then will be asked if they want to continue the conversation. If both daters match, the chat will live on the usual queue and they'll be able to see photos.
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Tinder Is Losing Some Momentum and Gen Z Could Be Why
MASHABLE - Financial Times reported that Tinder downloads dropped 5% in 2021. Tinder CEO Gary Swidler said that new user sign-ups "have not returned to pre-pandemic levels." FT's reporting suggested that Gen Z's falling interest in Tinder could be to blame for the app's slow fall from grace.
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Hinge Launches LGBTQ Dating Guide to Answer
MASHABLE - Hinge has a new FAQ guide full of advice specifically about LGBTQ dating. The NFAQ (Not-so-Frequently Asked Questions) guide is full of answers to questions relating to LGBTQ dating and identity, including how to navigate dating when you're not quite ready to come out.
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Bumble to Let Nonbinary Users Message Anyone First
MASHABLE - Bumble is changing its gender options and nonbinary experience in a partnership with LGBTQ rights organization GLAAD. For matches with at least one nonbinary person, either person can message first. Further, Bumble BFF users can now connect with people of any gender, whereas previously they could only match with users of the same gender.
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9 Dating Apps and Sites That Died
MASHABLE - Here are nine dating sites and apps that died. RIP.
- Sparked
Facebook Dating launched in 2019, five years after founder Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook was a better dating site than Tinder. Facebook Dating has thousands of active users, while Tinder has millions. Facebook tried again with Sparked, a video speed dating app that launched last year. Sparked shut down less than a year after its inception. - Chappy
UK reality star Ollie Locke launched gay dating app Chappy in 2018 with help from Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd. Chappy shut down and folded into Bumble just two years later. - Hater
Hater made waves back in 2017. This app's niche was connecting people through things they despise. App founder Brandon Alper pitched Hater on Shark Tank in 2017 and received $200K from billionaire Mark Cuban, but the following year Hater wasn't making money. - HowAboutWe
HowAboutWe was an innovative dating app in that singles snagged dates by suggesting activities with each other. HowAboutWe's demise was due to a buyout. Match acquired HowAboutWe in 2014, and the site is no more. - Spoonr
First called Cuddlr, the app launched in 2014 to help people find platonic cuddle buddies. Cuddlr shut down in 2015 and rebranded as Spoonr months later. Spoonr closed in 2017 with a tweet: "It was fun while it lasted! SPOONR is now closed! Hugs." - Siren
Siren launched in 2015 by two women of color to "fight the swipe" of dating apps created by men. Instead of swiping, Siren posed daily questions for users to answer and seek potential matches based on whose responses they liked. Siren shuttered in 2017 with a blog post. Co-founders Susie Lee and Katrina Hess claimed that investors didn't complete their payments, and the app ran out of money. - Missed Connections
Oh, Craigslist Missed Connections. Gone too soon. - Yahoo! Personals
A site with the same fate as Craigslists' personals, Yahoo! Personals shuttered in 2010 when it merged with Match. - GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com
A two-for-one, GreatBoyfriends and GreatGirlfriends launched in 2002 by then-Elle Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. GreatBoyfriends and Girlfriends died after wedding site The Knot acquired them in 2005.
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Bumble Is Campaigning to Make Cyberflashing Illegal
MASHABLE - Cyberflashing is the act of sending non-consensual explicit photos. The violation is not currently illegal in England and Wales. It has been criminalised in Scotland for more than a decade. Bumble is launching a campaign #DigitalFlashingIsFlashing to call on the UK government to acknowledge the need for a new law in England and Wales criminalising the sending of non-consensual explicit images. According to Bumble, 48% of women aged 18 to 24 had received a non-consensual sexual photo in the last year alone, with 59% reporting they felt less trusting of others online afterwards, with one in four stating they feel violated.
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