Features

BLK dating app has unveiled Spring Mode to help foster more connection among college students during their spring break vacations, when many are traveling and looking to meet people.

According to Blavity, the feature allows college students to place a fun badge on their profiles of the place they plan to visit over their spring break, in case other potential matches might be traveling there, too. Destinations include Hawaii, Cancun, Jamaica, Los Angeles, Cabo, the Dominican Republic, Cancun, Las Vegas, and Miami among other prime locations.

The badges all have unique personality and style, and are modeled after the famous places they represent. The vision behind Spring Mode according to Jonathan Kirkland, BLK’s head of marketing and brand, is in line with the company’s overall commitment to fostering connection and community as well as inclusivity.

Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones is reconsidering the app’s signature selling point: a dating app where females make the first move. The app is scheduled to relaunch later this year, and it seems everything is on the table.

Bumble’s longtime marketing strategy and company mission was to appeal to women and help them feel empowered while using a dating app. Jones however feels that things have changed, and it has become a “burden for a subset of our customers today," according to Yahoo! Finance.

The company has been testing out alternatives, from sending prompts to help women start conversations (and reduce their anxiety about doing so) or they can choose to let their matches start conversations instead.

Dating app conglomerate Match Group has attracted its second activist investor Anson Funds Management LP, who have built a stake in the company.

Bloomberg, who broke the news, also noted that shares of Match Group fell 0.9% in mid-day trading the day the news was released.

Bloomberg also reported that Anson is trying to “change the composition” of Match Group’s Board of Directors, citing reputable sources. The investment firm also discussed with Match Group’s management about embracing AI in its products, which Match Group has already been doing.

Grindr CEO George Arison is hoping to turn things around for the popular gay dating app after a tumultuous year with employees, investors and app users alike. He is focusing on moving Grindr beyond a hookup app, and in streamlining costs.

According to a feature in The Financial Times, an “a la carte” payment option for travel services will be added to boost the company’s revenue. Arison noted that travelling to events such as Aspen Gay Ski Week and New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro is hugely popular among Grindr users, and the company sees advantages to offering those attending a way to connect.

Grindr is currently testing a feature called Teleport, which lets users place their profile in a new location for an hour to connect with others before traveling to that place. Tinder has a similar feature called Passport, where users can mark their location at a place where they are traveling.

Dating app Bumble is refocusing its brand and has announced significant layoffs following a disappointing fourth quarter earnings report.

The popular female-forward dating company plans to cut 30% of its staff, or 350 employees, and revamp its app to focus on its friend-finding feature.

Bumble also plans to relaunch the app in the second quarter and offer a “compelling modern experience” with a “stronger appeal to younger users” according to Axios, citing Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones’s remarks in the company’s earnings call. The new features focus on making profile-building easier, with “insights on profile pictures, and better app performance” according to Axios.

Tinder is expanding its AI-powered ID Verification feature to the U.S., U.K., Brazil, and Mexico, making it available by this summer.

According to the company’s press release, the new safety feature requires users to upload a video selfie and a valid Driver’s License or Passport. The AI-powered feature will then check to see if the face in the video selfie matches both the photo ID and the user’s profile photos, and will check the date of birth on the official ID.

The new feature adds another layer of security to using Photo Verification alone, where video selfies are compared to photos. Now, the official ID is also checked as part of the process.