Match Group

Tinder sociologist Jessica Carbino

Tinder is making some bold moves lately, with the introduction of Tinder’s Apple TV app and a new profile feature that allows users to choose from over 30 gender identities. While Tinder has a reputation for being a hook-up app, the company is focusing its efforts now on helping users connect and find relationships. Its latest move: hiring an in-house sociologist.

It’s no secret that Tinder has revolutionized the online dating industry in engaging new users who were once weary of online dating. In fact, 70% of online daters only use mobile apps thanks to Tinder’s popularity, quite an increase from just a few years ago when most preferred looking for love from the comfort and privacy of their home computers.

Which is why Tinder wants to remain a trendsetter for the industry. In another bold move, the company recently hired an in-house sociologist to help point users in the right direction for making connections. In recent interviews for Grazia magazine and Fast Company, Tinder sociologist Jessica Carbino shares some tips on what makes a good profile, according to her research.

Recipient of Gold
Match.com

Recipient of Silver
eHarmony

Recipient of Bronze
Elite Singles

The 2016 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award poll was launched on October 13th, 2016 and in two and half months closed for voting on January 1st, 2017. By this point it had 407 people cast their votes. For the first question of the poll, it asked our visitors what paid dating site or app would you recommend for the Single's Choice Award. Voters had an option to select from 10 possible answers of the top dating services of 2016 (as chosen by the Editor's). This is 2 more dating services to choose from compared to last year. For this award the top voted service receives Gold, followed by Silver, and for third, Bronze.

The recipient of the Gold 2016 Single's Choice Award is Match.com. Match received a total of 83 votes which worked out to 20.4% of all votes cast. This gave match a strong 6% lead in votes when compared to the dating service which received the Silver.

The recipient of the Silver 2016 Single's Choice Award is eHarmony. This year eHarmony received 57 votes which is 14% of the total votes cast. This gives them a solid position over third. At the end of this year eHarmony went through a number of changes including updates to their relationship questionnaire and expanding how matching works. It will be interesting to see how this affects things next year during voting.

The recipient of the Bronze 2016 Single's Choice Award is Elite Singles. Elite Singles received 49 votes which is 12% of all votes cast. This is the first time Elite Singles took part in the Single's Choice Awards showing that their members believe in this new service.

Here are this year's standings for the Single's Choice award for all dating sites in the poll:

Binging on Netflix has become a social occasion, with friends gathering together to watch their favorite shows and movies in the comfort of home. Now, Tinder has proposed that online dating can be a social occasion, too - and like Netflix, experienced via your TV.

This past December (notably in time for the holidays), the company launched Tinder for Apple TV, which allows you to search for dates on the big screen, presumably with your friends gathered round to comment. The tvOSapp for Apple TV allows you to swipe left and right on potential dates on the big screen to make it a group activity. Perhaps while you’re opening presents or eating turkey and pumpkin pie with your family?

It’s the same Tinder as the version that lives on your phone, but available for display so your friends and family don’t have to squint or pass your phone around to give you their opinions.

“With a new, swipeable remote control and the world’s hottest app now in HD, modern dating is taking a page from the age-old book of matchmaking,” reads the Tinder announcement of the new tvOS app. “Let’s face it—the people who know you best have traditionally had a high rate of success when helping you pick a partner.”

Recipient
PlentyOfFish.com

The 2016 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award poll was closed for voting on December 31, 2016. The poll opened mid October (a little later than planned) and in the 2 and a half months that voting took place it received a total of 407 votes which is a little less than last year (probably due to being open 2 weeks less). This award is the result of the second question from the poll which asks our visitors what is in their opinion is the best free dating service (includes websites and dating apps). The top 8 free dating services where picked by the Editor's to be the options for the visitor to select from. These dating services were selected by meeting a number of criteria. This includes having a review on Dating Sites Reviews, having the core features of the service being free (including, profiles, searching, and messages), and being a service with a large amount of traffic.

The recipient of the 2016 Single's Choice Award for a Free Dating Site is Plenty Of Fish. This is the eighth straight year in a row that Plenty of Fish has won this award. In 2016 POF received 126 votes which is a percent more than last year, and 30 percent of the total votes cast.

Here are the final results of the poll:

Recipient
Match.com

The Editor's Top Pick - Over All Award recipient for 2016 is Match.com. This award is a difficult one to determine as the race is very close amongst the popular dating services. After careful review we determined that Match would be the recipient of the Overall award this year thanks to their continued popularity and customer service.

In a recent study it was found that 38% of Match members had a relationship (which started on Match.com) that had lasted longer than one month. This was the highest of all the dating services which were in the study. Thanks to statistics like this and Match's continued ability to offer easy and accessible tools for members to find their potential partner, it raised the bar and put this dating service top on our list for 2016.

Recipient
Plenty of Fish

The Editor's Top Pick - Free Award recipient for 2016 is Plenty of Fish (POF). Straight from their online press page, POF lists just how popular the dating service is. Worldwide Plenty of Fish has over 100 million registered members since launch and they are adding 55,000 new members every single day. On average 3.6 million people log into POF either via the website or dating apps, and have over 10 million conversations.