Dating Services

Longtime denizens of the online dating world are marking the loss of an institution. With neither fanfare nor explanation, Plenty of Fish has announced that it has shuttered its forums. Visitors to the forum page are now greeted with a terse message announcing the shutdown:

“To focus on better serving our members, we've decided to shut down the POF forums. While regular posting is now disabled, you can continue to view all threads until the end of June 2019. Event Hosts can still create and promote events while we work on a new and improved event creation service for you.”

The POF forums were an active destination for digital daters for 15 years. Users created more than 10 million posts before the closure, covering a broad spectrum of topics including dating, love, relationships, marriage, parenting and breakups. The forums proved equally popular for general discussions that ran the gamut from cooking and creative writing, to sports and science, to travel and humor, to music and philosophy.

Early in May, Apple and Google removed three dating apps from their stores after the FTC declared them a danger to children. By Friday May 10th, the updated apps were available again in Google Play, but not in the Apple Store.

According to The Hill, the FTC issued a consumer advisory for dating apps, and named three apps specifically - Meet24, FastMeet, and Meet4U – because they put children at risk of exposure to potential predators. Children under 13 years of age were able to sign up for these apps and communicate with other users, including adults, a violation of a law that requires parental consent before collecting information on underage people.

Tinder has added another buzzy feature to attract younger singles to its platform. “Festival Mode” is a badge that users can add to their profiles when they plan to attend a specific music festival, so that they can connect with other attendees.

When people are swiping quickly through the app, the badge will be easier to spot, according to Tech Crunch. The idea is that festival-goers increase their chances of matching with someone who will be there along with them, and hopefully make more in-person connections. The badges will be available beginning three weeks before each event.

Tantan, one of the highest grossing dating apps in the world in the first quarter of 2019, has been removed from Android app stores by order of governmental authorities in China due to a violation of policies. The popular dating app was often referred to as “China’s Tinder” and had been acquired by Momo in May 2018.

The details of the ban are unclear. The official statement from Tantan did not reveal the specific nature of the violations. The company merely said it would cooperate fully with authorities and promised to "conduct a comprehensive internal review of the content in the Tantan mobile app and undertake other measures necessary to stay in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”

Are you an Us Weekly reader? If so, you’re in luck. The popular entertainment and gossip magazine just announced that eHarmony is offering its readers an exclusive discount of 20 percent when they join.

Us Weekly said the offer is for a “limited time only,” but didn’t state how long the promotion will last.

eHarmony is a longtime competitor in the online dating world, and one of the big selling points is its matching algorithm. Its success rate is notable. The service matches one couple every 14 minutes according to their website, and according to a survey from 2018, eHarmony is the number one trusted dating site brand. eHarmony is focused on appealing to more serious daters, as opposed to competitors like Tinder.

Bumble took the dating industry by storm when it launched in 2014. As a bold departure from its competitors, Bumble required women to make the first move. Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd made it her mission to create a platform rooted in kindness and respect, where outdated heterosexual norms are challenged and gender equality is championed both online and in the real world. It proved to be a winning formula. Bumble is behind 4 billion swipes and 850 million matches to date, and a rumored IPO could value the company at over $1 billion.

So would you be crazy to take on Bumble in the female-centric dating sphere? Perhaps, but that’s exactly what Jenna Birch and Dave Brandner hope to do with their new dating platform, Plum.