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

How Politics Is Changing Dating and Relationships in the Trump Era

AEI.ORG - Feb 5 - A 2017 study by eHarmony found that almost half of users mention Trump, either positively or negatively, in their profiles. Some dating apps have even been created with a specific political group in mind, such as Conservatives Only and TrumpSingles. 63% of Americans say they would not consider dating someone whose views on Trump differ from their own. Trump is more of a deal breaker for women than men. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) of women say they would be unwilling to date someone whose views of the president did not align with their own. Educational background appears to matter little to Americans in deciding whom to date. They care more about religion, lifestyle and life goals, spending habits. Most Americans who are currently married or in committed relationships say they were not aware of the politics of their spouse or partner before they started dating. Younger adults are more likely than are older adults to say they were aware of their partner's political views before they started their relationship.

See full article at AEI.org

See the top news on eHarmony
See the top news on Conservatives Only

Loving or Hating Trump Is a Big Deal Breaker

DESERET NEWS - Oct 10 - According to the 2017 American Family Survey, the overwhelming majority of Americans who are married report that their spouse belongs to the same political party. Surveys from the Pew Research Center indicate people now are more likely to marry someone of a different race or religion than to cross party lines to find a husband or wife. While Conservatives Only, one of the most established platforms, launched during the Obama administration, a handful of other right-leaning online dating services have been created since. Trump Singles was released just a few months before the 2016 presidential election, but the website no longer appears to be in operation. Patrio, with a mission to "bring right-leaning individuals together" came on the scene in 2017. DonaldDaters and Righter, the newest of the bunch, were released in 2018. Righter encourages women to be ladylike and men to make the first move. Emily Moreno, the founder of Donald Daters, told Vox that anti-conservative discrimination was one of her reasons for creating the app last year. She said she once had a date walk out on her after she told him she worked on a Republican Senate campaign. There are a number of dating websites for the left-leaning singles as well, including NeverTrump.dating, a response to Trump.dating, Democratic People Meet and Liberal Hearts, which welcomes all left-leaning and progressive daters including LGBTQ people. CandiDate is a nonpartisan app that explores each user's political preferences in order to make matches based on their beliefs on issues like the environment, economy, gun reform, abortion and gay rights.

by Erica Evans
See full article at Desert News

See all posts on Righter                    See all posts on Conservatives Only
See all posts on Donald Daters         See all posts on Candidate
See all posts on Trump Singles         See all posts on NeverTrump.dating
See all posts on Patrio

Liberals And Conservatives Can't Even Use The Same Dating Apps

MARKETWATCH - Aug 28 - When David Goss, co-founder of TrumpSingles.com, first started his dating site for supporters of President Donald Trump, he didn't know how far it would go. But a year later, the country is more divided than ever, and the app is thriving. It has gained ~52k members since Trump has been in office. In February 2017, OkCupid added Trump-related questions to its compatibility survey and found 72% of people thought supporting the president was a deal breaker in relationships. eHarmony has seen the number of users willing to date people of other political stripes shrink dramatically in recent months.

by Kari Paul
See full article at MarketWatch

See all posts on Trump Singles
See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on eHarmony

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

How Has Brexit Affected The Dating Scene

FINANCIAL TIMES - June 20 - The consequences of Britain's departure from the EU remain a hotly debated topic. For some couples it has highlighted a lack of shared values and this has in turn placed tension on their relationship. Immediately after the referendum, two heartbroken voters launched Remainder, "the dating and social app for the 48%" of the population who opted to stay in the bloc. Mark Brooks, a US-based consultant to the dating industry, says politics is one of the most important criteria used on dating site profiles and in the algorithms such services use. "When people look through profiles they review them in an 'eliminatory style'," he says. "They're looking to find reasons to not go on a date with people [and] politics is a biggie these days, bigger than before the [Trump] election for sure." Brooks says, the fact that politics has moved higher up the agenda for those seeking a match means it is viable to create "niche" dating sites based on political beliefs, like TrumpSingles.com. He also says services should be explicitly posing the question: "Do you support Trump?" to their clients.

by Sarah Gordon
See full article at Financial Times (under subscription)

See all posts on Remainder
See all posts on TrumpSingles

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

TrumpSingles.com To Help Launch Trump-inspired Dating Show

MASHABLE - Mar 3 - The idea is from David Goss, the man who created TrumpSingles.com. Goss has partnered with Mark Walker of Boxx Communications to produce a TV series based on the site. The concept is still being finalized, but it will likely be a bit different from the site. It will be a competition, revolving around politics, naturally, but it won't be limited to people from TrumpSingles.com. The show is still just in the development phase - it doesn't have a network or even a name yet.

by Cassie Murdoch
See full article at Mashable

See all posts on Trump Singles

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

TrumpSingles.com Boosted By Presidential Inauguration But Founder Told To 'Go Kill' Himself

CNBC - Feb 10 - TrumpSingles.com dating site has been inspired by Trump's election campaign: its tagline is "Making dating great again." Launched by former production coordinator David Goss in May 2016, the site saw a bump in people signing up in the days before and after Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017, going from 18k to 26k, and Goss claims there are now ~30k users. The site supports Trump and has been subject to a backlash, explains Goss. "I've been told to go kill myself a handful of times." Goss set up the site after speaking with people whose dates had turned sour once couples revealed opposing political views.

by Lucy Handley
See full article at CNBC

See all posts on Trump Singles

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Political Dating Sites Are Hot

ECONOMIST - Jan 28 - After Donald Trump was elected president, Maple Match, a dating app which connects Canadians and Americans, was inundated with people signing up. TrumpSingles.com is the opposite. It connects Trump's supporters. The site increased its monthly fee from $4.95 to $19.95 in December following Trump's victory. It enjoyed a bump in users even after the price increase. Match.com, Bumble and Tinder cater for everyone. That has left lots of room for "niche" providers. Making money is difficult, however. It is hard for new businesses to charge subscription fees while building brand awareness. "To be successful, niche dating sites need critical mass and a mobile platform," says Mark Brooks of Courtland Brooks, an online-dating consultant.

See full article at Economist

See all posts on Maple Match
See all posts on Trump Singles

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

TrumpSingles.com: A Dating Site For Trump Supporters

CBS MIAMI - Jan 16 - David Goss started TrumpSingles.com, a dating site for supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, and thousands are signing up. "I quit my day job to do this," said David Goss. "I heard some stories about dates going bad because politics were brought up."

See full article at THV11

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team