Dating Services

Recipient
eHarmony

The 2020 Editor's Top Pick - Match System award recipient is eHarmony. This dating service had a whirlwind year. They where acquired by German Broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 and then late in 2019, they launched a big update which included not only interface changes but major core improvements to how the actual service works. These changes happened to both their website and dating apps (available on iOS and Android). Don't worry, eHarmony is still all about matching and their revamped Compatibility Quiz (originally called the Relationship Questionnaire) shows their commitment to their continued strategy of matching members to create meaningfully long term relationships. Another surprising thing from the update is that the new eHarmony now will provide matches for someone looking for a relationship with the same gender. It doesn't matter what your gender is either, as both have almost an equal chance of finding someone since eHarmony's members are made up of 51% men and 49% women.

Recipient
Facebook Dating

Facebook Dating is the recipient of the 2020 Editor's Top Pick - Up & Coming award. It's a bit weird giving Facebook this award which is meant more for newer dating services. Facebook is over 15 years old now, but they have not had an online dating service (owned directly by Facebook) available to the masses until surprisingly last year. It is called Facebook Dating and is only available from the Facebook app (for iOs and Android). Thanks to Facebook being one of the largest services online and with billions of users it quickly took off (even despite the recent privacy breaches Facebook has had).

Actress Sharon Stone was blocked on Bumble in late December, and took to Twitter to air her concerns publicly. Bumble responded and tried to restore her profile, but days later, Stone still wasn’t able to access it.

Stone signed up for Bumble to start dating again, according to reports. She was surprised when the female-friendly app quickly shut her profile down, claiming it was fake. She then posted about it on Twitter and Instagram, along with the screenshot of the message from Bumble saying she was blocked.

“I went on the @bumble dating [site] and they closed my account. 👁👁 Some users reported that it couldn’t possibly be me!” she tweeted. “Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary ? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Don’t shut me out of the hive 🐝”

Recipient
Bumble

Bumble is this years recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Innovative award. This dating service continues to grow and innovate in an extremely competitive industry, in fact we think so over all others. Thanks in part to its female friendly reputation and it's "Bee Kind" attitude which promotes respect and kindness this service has surpassed 55 million members (since launch). This is Bumble's second year in a row to earn this award which shows they want to continue to evolve and change and keep pace with what users expect from an online dating service.

So how did Bumble innovate this year? They added a number of new and USEFUL features including:

The newest generation entering adulthood is Gen Z (born 1995 or later) – those late teen and early twenty-somethings who plan to vote in their first election. And the thing they seem to crave most from a dating app like Tinder is connecting with other political activists.

Social justice is a big part of forging connections for Gen Z. They are facing a lot of challenges with rising student debt, low-paying jobs, and gun violence, but one of their biggest concerns is the threat of climate change. They want to meet and date others who are willing to fight and protest with them on a variety of social justice issues.

For the past several months, protests have been breaking out on a regular basis in Hong Kong, thanks to young student activists who want to maintain the city’s democratic leanings over the more oppressive mainland Chinese government’s rule. But along with the students who are moved to action, dating culture in Hong Kong is also changing as a result of the protests.

Many daters use popular dating apps like Momo, Tantan or Tinder to connect with each other, and aren’t afraid to list their political feelings in their profiles or when they message other daters. (Adding a yellow ribbon to your profile means you sympathize with protestors while a blue ribbon means you support the police and the mainland Chinese establishment.) Some are even posting photos of themselves at protests as a way to attract potential dates with the same political leanings.