Dating apps may be inadvertently helping contribute to greater income inequality, according to a new economic study.

According to The Independent, researchers at the Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis and Dallas and Haverford College found that at least half of the rise in income inequality between 1980 and 2020 can be attributed to changing preferences and the rise of online dating. Because of how easy it is to filter based on preferences, people are more likely now to marry someone in the same socioeconomic bracket than they were before.

According to The Independent, researchers specifically tracked education, race, income, skill level and age of recently married people between 2008 and 2021, as dating apps became more popular. The findings suggest that people are marrying someone more like themselves than they were likely to in earlier years, which the researchers have tied to half of the increase in household income inequality during the same period. When higher-earning people couple up and lower earners do as well, it grows the disparity.

New gay dating apps like Scruff and Archer are positioning themselves to capture a bigger portion of the LGBTQ+ online dating market as Grindr complaints and technical issues rise.

Grindr has long been the most popular dating app for gay daters, but recently people have posted complaints on social media and online forums, saying that they are experiencing technical issues, not getting access to the features they paid for, and other problems, according to Mashable.

This year, Grindr has experienced significant bugs and periods of downed service. At the same time, it has asked its users to pay more to access certain popular features, including limiting both “taps” and “explore” features and requiring them to buy subscriptions.

The new dating app industry code of conduct established by the Australian government has taken effect as of October 1st, requiring dating apps to adhere to certain standards in an effort to better protect their users.

The new code requires dating apps to make “prominent and transparent” to users how to report someone or file a complaint on their platforms, according to Associated Press. The code also requires dating apps to detect potential incidents of online harm, and that the accounts of offenders are terminated.

A pervasive problem is that users who have been blocked on one platform can join another, so the reporting process is key. Communication Minister Michelle Rowland said in a statement: “If there are grounds to ban a particular individual from utilizing one of those platforms, if they’re banned on one platform, they’re blocked on all platforms,” according to AP.

Dating app After just launched in Austin, Texas, and is aimed at ending the pervasive problem of ghosting on dating apps.

According to Tech Crunch, when someone “unmatches” a person on After, they are required to let the app know why before they can keep swiping. It can be for any number of reasons – from distance issues to just a general vibe of non-interest, and the app will send a kind message to the other user in return. The idea is to give the person who was ghosted some closure with a reason why the other person is no longer interested, while also reminding them this one match experience isn’t an indication of who they are or what they are worth.

For two people who matched on the app and neglect to message each other, the app will end the match. If one person doesn’t respond to a match’s message, the app will nudge them to send a message. If they still don’t reply to a conversation, the app unmatches them and the user who didn’t respond can’t use the platform until they provide a reason for letting the match expire.

Plenty of Fish has published their annual dating trends study and found that many young singles are using terms like “smutten” and “freak matching” to describe their dating experiences.

Each year there are new words in the cultural zeitgeist to describe dating scenarios, and Plenty of Fish has delved into what is trending. The company surveyed 6,000 U.S. members and found that TikTok and Instagram continue to heavily influence peoples’ perspectives on dating, though terms might have evolved.

According to their press release, one dating trend POF found was that 33 percent of singles said they have felt “smutten,” (a play on smut and smitten), fantasizing about their own dating lives based on characters from tv shows and romance novels that they have enjoyed. (Forbidden love and enemies to lovers are popular romance tropes, and over a third of respondents said they imagine their dates mimicking these storylines.) More women have looked for these fantasies to play out in their dating lives than men (women at 40 percent, men at 28 percent), though both sexes do this.

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder is launching the in-app “Take Action Center” along with partner Vote.org to encourage people to register to vote and make a voting plan ahead of the November elections in the U.S.

According to Tinder’s press release, the Take Action Center is powered by Vote.org to make it easy for people to get the information they need to prepare for election season, including where to register to vote or how to check voter registration status, how to request a mail-in ballot, and where to vote (whether in-person, early voting, or dropping a ballot in the mail). Vote.org offers a range of information to voters, including polling locations and voter registration status. Tinder users who participate can also receive “I Voted” digital stickers to post on their profiles.

To help drive turnout, Tinder and Vote.org will also provide a GOTV (get out the vote) food truck outside of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Indianapolis, November 2-3. The food truck will feed concertgoers as well as provide them information about their voter registration and voting options including their polling locations (even for those traveling from other states).