MASHABLE - Feeld, a dating app for sexual exploration, has undergone a rebrand with input from users, focusing on personal transformation and curiosity. The app, originally known for threesomes, now embraces a wider range of sexual interests and identities, with many users exploring queer identities and diverse fantasies. The rebrand includes new visuals and a global event to mark this shift.
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Hookup App Feeld Partners With Users for Rebrand
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Daters Want to Leave Body Count Stigma in 2023, eharmony Says
MASHABLE - eharmony's Dating Diaries report reveals upcoming "sexolutions" for 2024, emphasizing reduced stigma around sexual history and a focus on better sexual communication and experimentation. Key findings include a significant number of singles not wanting to discuss partners' sexual pasts.
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eharmony Launches New Features for LGBTQ Users
MASHBALE - eharmony, in collaboration with LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, has expanded its platform to better cater to LGBTQ daters. The dating site now offers an extended list of genders and the option to display or hide this information on user profiles. Following a 2020 redesign and inclusive ad campaigns, the platform saw a 31% increase in LGBTQ membership from 2022 to 2023. Alex Schmider from GLAAD and eharmony's COO, Gareth Mandel, both emphasized the platform's commitment to inclusion.
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Bumble Adds New Features for Better Dating Experience
MASHABLE - The "Review Before You Send" feature prompts users to think before messaging, mirroring a similar feature on Tinder, called "Are You Sure?" A compatibility feature now showcases a user's interests upfront, inspired by the success of Bumble's collaboration with Spotify, which highlighted shared music tastes. Bumble also added a "Recommend to a Friend" option. For Premium users, the "Best Bees" feature suggests daily potential matches using machine learning.
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Millennials Prioritize Sex More Than Gen Z Does, Survey Says
MASHABLE - eharmony's Dating Diaries report, based on a survey of ~2K people, highlights generational differences between millennials and Gen Z in attitudes towards sex and dating. The report shows that 91% of millennials in relationships have sex at least once a week, compared to 78% of Gen Z. However, Gen Z is more sexually explorative and is more likely to have unprotected sex. Millennials prioritize sexual chemistry, while Gen Z values emotional connection before engaging in sex. Gen Z is also more likely to use dating apps and social media for meeting partners and learning new things for sexual experiences, but 48% report experiencing dating app fatigue.
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Bumble BFF Will Be a Standalone App
MASHABLE - BFF and Bizz have historically been available on the same app as Bumble Date, but according to a source, that's going to change. Bumble has been testing a standalone version of the BFF app in the UK and select Asian markets. The standalone app is expected to launch in the U.S. this summer. BFF represents 15% of the app's monthly active users.
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Memes Are a Love Language, Hinge Says
MASHABLE - According to a survey by Hinge, memes have become a popular love language among daters. The survey, which involved 2K users, revealed that sending memes is the top preferred way to flirt before and after a first date. ~73% of respondents use memes to determine if they share a sense of humor with their match, while 60% prioritize understanding their match's "meme humor" before going on a date. Additionally, 93% believe that memes reveal a potential partner's sense of humor, which is considered an important factor in relationships by 92% of daters.
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Bumble Updates Spotify Feature to Encourage Musical Compatibility
MASHABLE - Bumble has updated its Spotify feature to enhance musical compatibility among users. With this update, users can share their "Top Artists" with potential matches, making it easier to identify common interests. Since 2016, Bumble has offered Spotify integration, and a majority of U.S. users have linked their accounts. The feature is particularly popular among Gen Z users, and those with linked accounts are more likely to receive right swipes.
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Bumble Launches Mental Health and Self-care Badges
MASHABLE - May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and dating app Bumble is kicking it off with a new set of Interest Badges and Prompts about self-care and mental well-being. Interest Badges on Bumble let users signal to other users what they care about, while Prompts let them show a little personality and can be good conversation starters. Six new Badges to choose from are "Therapy," "Mindfulness," "Deep chat," "Nutrition," "Sleeping well," and "Time offline." New Prompts include, "My mental health game changer was..." and "I'm prioritizing my mental health by..." According to a Bumble survey, 55% of respondents said it's important to be open about mental health when connecting with others.
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Bumble Says UK Cyber Flashing Bill Isn't Enough
MASHABLE - Bumble, along with UN Women UK, TV personality Amy Hart, and the magazine Grazia, are calling for a change in the UK's proposed Online Safety Bill (OSB). The current legislation concerning cyber flashing, or sending unsolicited nude images without consent, is based on whether the sender had harmful intent. This is difficult to validate and prove, Bumble and supporters say, and would give room for those who cyber flash to claim it was a "joke." Instead, Bumble's campaigning for the cyber flashing portion of OSB to be consent-based. Almost half (48%) of UK adults aged 18-24 have received a sexual photo they didn't ask for, according to a 2021 survey of 1,800 respondents in England and Wales.
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Why Age-verification Bills Won't Work
MASHABLE - Recently, age-verification bills for porn sites have been making headlines, but experts argue that they won't work and may even harm online privacy and free speech. Instead, they suggest better ways to protect children online. Age-verification bills, such as Louisiana's Act 440 and Utah's SB 287, require visitors to sites with a significant portion of adult content to prove their age using a commercial age-verification system (AVS). Utah has also passed two other bills, SB 152 and HB 311, which require age verification for all users on social media sites; parental permission to access social media for those under 18; and social media curfews for under-18s. These are supposed to go into effect in March 2024, but social media platforms are expected to challenge these laws beforehand. Despite good intentions, these bills have numerous issues:
- Difficult to enforce: Websites based in other countries may not comply, and users can easily bypass restrictions with VPNs.
- Privacy risks: Intrusive and ineffective AVSs may expose people's private information and browsing habits.
- Domino effect: If multiple states adopt different verification methods, it could lead to a complex and restrictive system affecting everyone online.
These bills could also negatively impact adult content creators, who already face censorship and loss of income due to similar legislation like FOSTA-SESTA. Instead of relying on age-verification bills, experts recommend parents take a more proactive approach to protect children from adult content.
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Tinder Backs UK Government Campaign to Fight Loneliness
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.
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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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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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