Dating Services

Facebook Redesign now Live to All

Image: Facebook

Social media giant Facebook has undergone its fifth major redesign since the company was founded, highlighting groups and invitations and taking the focus off of its news feed. This could help single users who aren’t necessarily on Facebook Dating, but want to connect with people in their circles.

The new redesign places groups front and center along with events, which are the two most heavily used features of Facebook. There are tens of millions of active Facebook groups according to the company, and more than 400 million users belong to a group that they “find meaningful,” according to the company’s blog post. 

The app industry saw revenue spike to $50.1 billion for the first two quarters of 2020, in part due to people isolating at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Dating app Tinder topped the list of non-game app revenue earners.

This marks a 23.4% increase from the first half of 2019 according to Tech Crunch, compared with a 20% increase for the same time period between 2018 and 2019. The data seems to also point to a growing new user base. First time app installs were up 26.1% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019, and reached a total of 71.5 billion downloads.

Topping the non-game app list was dating app Tinder, followed by YouTube, and popular social apps TikTok and Tencent. Netflix was the fifth-highest earner.

The launch of new social app Curius offers “mindful swiping” – letting users choose what kind of relationship they are looking for up front, instead of the traditional yes or no swipe options most dating apps offer.

Curius is a dating and social connection app all in one, offering a range of relationship choices for users. The app offers six swiping options, so potential matches can let that user know what they are looking for in a relationship: serious romance, casual romance, serious commitment or marriage, quick fling, friendship, or starting a casual chat. Each choice represents a “unique social intention” as the company says – because people want more flexibility in how they connect with others over an app. The swipe choices surround each profile in the form of emojis – including toasting wine glasses, a rose, an engagement ring, and fire emojis. 

Users are also able to choose multiple intentions – for instance, they can choose friendship and casual romance with another user if they are up for either one.

New app Joystick Dating, catering specifically to single gamers, launched in June. But ongoing reports of rampant misogyny in gamer culture might impact the number of women interested in signing up.

Niche dating apps aren’t new, but appealing to gamers looking for love shows promise because of the number of people around the world who not only play video games but are avid fans of online gaming and esports. According to the latest stats from The Gamer, there are over 164 million adult gamers in the U.S. alone, which means about 64% of Americans play video games. That’s a huge potential market, considering more than half of U.S. adults are single.

Tinder, while not a niche dating app, has sponsored esports events and organizations, seeing the opportunity to appeal to gamers that Joystick’s creator David Minn sees.

Dating and social app Stitch has seen a growth of new users as people around the world began to isolate at home. The app is geared towards adults over 50 who are looking for community as well as a date.

Stitch is a non-profit focused on helping older adults address loneliness and social isolation, a growing problem as the virus continues to spread. Stitch notes that if you’re over 60 and experiencing loneliness, it has the same negative impact on health outcomes as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And while Stitch markets itself primarily as a social app for making friends, it also allows people to meet potential dates.

Older adults are most impacted by the coronavirus and are reaching out to new people online more than ever. Stitch has seen its membership rise to 150,000 members in the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

China-based dating app Blued has filed for an IPO on NASDAQ, expanding its global and financial opportunities. 

The company aims to raise $50 million from the IPO, according to TechCrunch, which will go towards investment in technology and expanding the app in other countries. International users make up about half of its current membership.

Blued is part of a gay dating and lifestyle app called BlueCity founded by Baoli Ma in 2011, who is a formerly closeted gay policeman in China who was looking for a way to connect with others. While Blued originally seemed to model itself after dating app Grindr - (which was bought and later forced by the U.S. government to be sold by its Chinese owner Kunlun Tech) – the company added new features that included in-app video chats and livestream capabilities to distinguish itself.