General News

Dressing up for Halloween? You might want to reconsider your scary or political-themed ensemble and go for something funny, according to a new study from Dating.com.

The dating service surveyed its users to assess the differences a Halloween costume could make in attracting potential partners. Considering this is an election year in the U.S., political costumes might be popular, but it seems the vast majority of daters – 70% of respondents - are most attracted to people wearing funny costumes. 

Cute costumes came in a distant second at 18 percent, and scary costumes third at 13 percent. Political costumes were a definite no among both men and women. They were considered the least attractive costumes for 68 percent of men and 52 percent of women. So, if you were planning on dressing as Joe Biden or Donald Trump, you might want to come up with another plan.

Image: Match

According to a recent study by Match, a majority of online daters are looking for serious relationships as the coronavirus continues to impact our personal lives. The study also found that different political affiliations can be a dealbreaker for a majority of daters, too. 

The 10th annual Singles in America study was released by Match in early October, and revealed that 59 percent of daters were considering a wider range of potential partners and 55% were fast tracking their new relationships compared to before the coronavirus spread. Moreover, 69% of respondents are “thinking more about who they’re really looking for,” according to a report by The New York Times, and 50% admit they are “no longer chasing after people who aren’t interested in them.”

Dating app Bumble announced the addition of three new COVID-related profile badges that users (it is unclear if this is just for users in India or all users) can choose from to indicate how socially distant they want to be on a date.

The three badge choices are virtual, socially-distanced, and socially-distanced with masks to clearly identify their comfort levels with dating during the pandemic. Company executives told The Hindustan Times that this alleviates the awkwardness of conversations surrounding COVID-19, and how each dater feels about interaction.

Dating app Hinge has partnered with popular meditation app Headspace to help daters calm their nerves before going on a date. Plenty of Fish also announced their partnership with Shine, a popular self-care app designed by women of color, to help users take care of themselves during this stressful time. Both dating services are owned by Match Group.

The Hinge and Headspace partnership will offer pre-date meditations that Hinge users can access directly at hinge.co/headspace at no cost. Each meditation lasts about six to seven minutes and is intended to address a range of potential pre-date emotions, from “self-doubt” to “negative self-talk” according to Mashable.

The page to access the meditation also includes a link to Headspace’s website, where the company lists resources for help with mental illness through a variety of hotlines, accessible for users around the world. There is also a helpful “how to meditate” guide if you are new to the practice.

Match Group, parent company to popular dating apps like Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, has appointed Tracey Breeden to be its new Head of Safety and Social Advocacy.

Breeden is in a newly created position and will be overseeing trust and safety policies for Match Group’s dating apps, and will also be working with the company’s product teams to develop new safety features. According to Inside Hook, Breeden is the former Head of Women’s Safety and Gender-Based Violence Operations at Uber, another tech company that has encountered safety issues for both its customers and drivers. She is also a former investigator and police officer.  

A new report revealed that dating app scams in the UK had significantly increased during the summer as the coronavirus spread and lockdowns continued, and as more people turned to the apps for connection.

More than 600 reports of fraud a month were reported during June, July and August according to Sky News. In addition, there was a 26 percent increase in reported frauds overall during the past year. Since August of 2019, UK police have seen about 400 reports of fraud per month on average, with victims losing over 66 million pounds total over the past year.