General News

People are flocking to dating apps, but as they swipe through profiles, many are basing their choice to swipe right instead of left on superficial factors like attractiveness and race. 

According to a new study, dating app users also make their decisions in less than a second, so their choices tend to be superficial, based primarily on photos. The researchers who shared the preliminary results of their study were Dr. William Chopik, an associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Psychology, and Dr. David Johnson from the University of Maryland.

The researchers compared two different demographics and the results to see how dating app users of different backgrounds interact with available profiles, focusing on college students and working-class adults, on average in their mid-thirties. They found that men tended to swipe right more often than women, but most people overall did not consider any profile information, including whether someone was interested in a hookup or relationship.

The U.S. government is doing all it can to encourage people to get vaccinated, including partnering with dating apps to reach more people while they congregate online. Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Hinge, Match and Plenty of Fish are some of the most high-profile apps participating.

The dating apps are providing some incentives for vaccinated users, too – including vaccination status badges for easy identification among matches, search filters according to who has gotten the vaccine, and free access to popular paid features, according to NextGov. 

For example, Tinder users can indicate whether they support vaccines on their profile and vaccinated users can access “Super Likes” – a popular paid feature that allows users to let someone know if they are really interested.

Seniors are a growing demographic of online daters, and they are flocking to popular dating apps, including Tinder, according to a recent study.

Independent insurance group Choice Mutual found that about one third of seniors who have dated in the last five years have looked to dating apps to meet people. In addition, two thirds of those using dating apps have found relationships with someone they met through the platforms, according to Forbes. 

Some top choices of apps were Tinder, Match and Hinge, with 35 percent of respondents saying Tinder was the platform where they met the person they were dating. Twenty-eight percent said they had the best luck on Match, 25 percent had found someone either on Hinge or Plenty of Fish, and 24 percent had found their significant other on Bumble.

Dating app Snack has announced it is looking for young Gen Z investors with the launch of its new Gen Z Syndicate on AngelList. 

According to Tech Crunch, this move opens funding to Gen Z community members, the app’s target audience. The company hopes to attract influencers, creatives, and young entrepreneurs to participate in the company’s $2 million ask alongside angel investors and other funding sources, giving them a stake in the app.

Snack is setting this up as a SAFE (small investment future equity), which means its offering is based on future growth, and the company is allocating a certain amount to create its own Gen Z syndicate.

Tinder Are you Sure?
Feature for sending Messages

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder unveiled a new feature as part of its effort to step up safety measures on its platform. “Are You Sure?” or the AYS? feature will deliver a pop-up to question a user before they send a potentially harmful message.

According to Mashable, AYS? utilizes AI in real time to detect inappropriate language, based on what users have reported to Tinder in the past. When a user types a message that is flagged or noticed by the AI, an AYS? prompt will automatically appear before the user can press “send.” According to Tinder, in early tests this feature reduced harmful language in messages by as much as 10 percent. The company also said that members who saw this pop-up were less likely to be reported for sending inappropriate messages, an indication that it could curb this behavior.

The goal with using an AI-driven feature is that it will improve and become more effective in countering harmful messages over time as it gathers more input.

Dating app Mingle2 announced that it will be rolling out in-app background checks, adding a new level of safety for its more than 39 million users.

The app has partnered with RealMe, a security tool that aggregates publicly available background information on over 275 million people in the U.S., presenting the findings in one report for easier reference. The new integrated feature provides Mingle2 users with insight into sex offender status, marital status, lawsuits, and criminal records of potential matches. 

According to the company’s press release, RealMe’s integration will allow Mingle2 to validate and verify user profiles to ensure safer interactions for people while using the app. Members will also be able to see a person’s Reputation Profile, where the background information is shared.