Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

It's Time For Dating Apps To Move Away From Facebook Sign Ups

MASHABLE - Mar 22 - Since news broke about Cambridge Analytica's "hijacking" of 50M Facebook users' data in a bid to influence the U.S. election, people are thinking about deleting Facebook. But deleting Facebook will also prevent them from accessing their existing Tinder account. They can sign up for Tinder using phone number. This will, however, create an entirely new profile. With Bumble, it's a little different. Bumble currently requires you to have a Facebook account in order to sign up for the app. But, if users deactivate their Facebook, they can still keep Bumble profile and access it as usual. That access will end, however, if they log out of Bumble. Bumble is less than a couple of weeks away from releasing an update that includes a non-Facebook login. User of The League would need to upgrade to a membership option if they want to cut ties with Facebook. Hinge also insists on users having a Facebook profile. far too many dating apps are tethered to Facebook. It's high time they offered users another way to sign up.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on Tinder          See all posts on Hinge
See all posts on Bumble        See all posts on The League

Summarized by the IDEA team

With "Apply To Date" Singles Can Now Play Their Own Game Of The Bachelor(ette)

MASHABLE - Mar 18 - Apply To Date lets singles build a shareable webpage that's a little bit like a dating resume. The webpage has its own shareable URL that daters can add to their tweets, Snapchat stories, and Instagram bios. At the top of the page, there's a button that allows people to ask them out. There's an introduction, followed by more background, a chance to list what they're looking for. At the top and bottom of the page photos from Facebook or Instagram will be shown, and links to social media accounts.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

Summarized by the IDEA team

Tinder Users Are Changing Their Locations To Match With Athletes At The Winter Olympics

MASHABLE - Feb 12 - People are changing their Tinder locations so they can swipe on athletes at the Olympic Villages in South Korea. According to Tinder, there's been a 1,850% increase in swipers "passporting" to the Olympic Villages. Tinder Passport is a feature which allows users to change their location to connect with people anywhere in the world. Tinder has given all its Olympic Village users free access to Tinder Gold during the games.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the IDEA team

Heterosexuals Are Obsessed With Height In Online Dating

MASHABLE - Nov 17 - In online dating, height appears to be an immensely valuable currency. Author and "dating coach" James Preece says dating apps encourage us to be "incredibly picky" and to rule out individuals based on arbitrary qualities. "Tall men know that their height is a big selling point, so they'll mention it to attract women," says Preece. Salonee Gadgil, co-host of dating podcast The Swipe Hype, doesn't necessarily think it's a bad thing to swipe left on someone because of a physical attribute. "I don't particularly like long hair, and don't find men with long hair attractive, so I would swipe left. Does that mean I am discriminating? Not really," says Gadgil. Benjamin G. Voyer - a psychology and behavioural science professor at London School of Economics - says the allure of height boils down to evolution. "Height is a sign of health, and we are looking for health characteristics when we look for potential romantic partners," says Voyer.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

OkCupid Launches Anti-dick Pic Pledge

MASHABLE - Aug 12 - OkCupid is making all current and prospective users pledge that they won't send unwanted sexually explicit messages on the app. In a blog entitled "Because You're Better Than a Dick Pic," the dating app said the member pledge is designed to remind their community of "dating etiquette."

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on OkCupid

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Appetence - The World's First Slow Dating App

MASHABLE - May 11 - New dating app Appetence wants people to take things slow. The app forces users to talk to each other before they can see each other's profile pictures. Upon downloading the app, users are asked to select a bunch of their interests and tastes. The app's "slow matchmaking" algorithm then shows them compatible profiles based on their interests. The app won't show any photos. Users have to chat and like messages first, and they need 50 likes in order to see each others photos. The real question is: Do people really have the time and patience to invest in a protracted conversation with someone you might not actually fancy?

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

The League Is Coming To London

MASHABLE - Mar 27 - The League, the super-exclusive dating app for ambitious intellectuals, is currently only available in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Boston. But he app announces its plan to expand into 10 international cities this year, with London first up on the agenda. London was chosen as its first international stop due to its "similarities to Manhattan" - The League's "best market to date." The League will officially launch in London on April 25, and the app says it will select ~2k from the 10k people currently on its waitlist to join its founding London community.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on The League

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Is Super Liking On Tinder For Losers?

MASHABLE - Feb 10 - Tinder users can "Super Like" people they are "super" into to encourage them to swipe right on them. While the idea sounds flattering in theory, the reality of being Super Liked can be deeply off-putting for some users. PR executive Helen Parkinson says that receiving a Super Like gives her an ego boost at first, but she feels a little uneasy about the concept. "Often the sort of guys who Super Like me are a little on the creepy side," says Parkinson. She's not alone in this. Social media creative Gemma Clapp says it "seems too desperate" and web comic author Neil Bryer says he's only ever Super Liked by accident. Tinder's VP of Communications Rosette Pamakian disagrees: "We've consistently received positive feedback on Super Like. In fact, users are three times more likely to match with someone they Super Like and conversations initiated by a Super Like last 70% longer," says Pamakian.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

How The iPhone Revolutionized Mobile Dating

MASHABLE - Jan 9 - It's been 10 years since the first iPhone was revealed to the public on Jan. 7, 2007. The launch of Grindr in 2009 and Tinder in 2012 brought location-based dating mainstream. Swiping is now entirely synonymous with mobile dating; and, according to Tinder's co-founder Jonathan Badeen, it's all because of the iPhone. Jack Knowles, founder of dating app Temptr, says that prior to the iPhone's launch, online dating was considered shameful, because it was not yet mainstream. 2016 statistics revealed that 1 in 3 18-to-24-year-olds report having used online dating; triple the number of young adults using online dating two years previous.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

Mark Brooks: The shift to mobile is a media shift that was long overdue. The writing was on the wall back in 2006.  But the apps sucked, the infrastructure sucked, early apps had to deal with 100+ different phones on so many carrier platforms that were unduly complicated. This was the great opportunity that Apple saw, and conquered, and Google copied. The big question for the dating industry now is, what's next. Just what media shift might happen next? I'm watching my 7-8 year old kids for signs of what they're drawn to. I think we'll see AR/VR and wearables rise to revolutionize our industry once more, in about ten years.  

See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Grindr

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Tinder Boost Is Now Available In The UK

MASHABLE - Oct 7 - Tinder Boost, which just launched in the UK, increases users' chances of a match by making their profile top of the pile in their area for 30 minutes. The feature can be bought via the app and the rate per Boost changes depending on how many users buy. One boost costs £2.29 ($2.82), but a bundle of 10 works out at £1.50 ($1.85) each.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team