OkCupid

Match Group has a new CEO, and she’s determined to provide a better online dating experience for women. In a recent interview with Marketwatch, Mandy Ginsberg revealed that Tinder will be debuting a new feature that lets women choose whether or not they want to make the first move. She has female-friendly plans for their other properties as well, including Match and OkCupid.

Tinder’s new feature competes directly with dating app Bumble, which has seen incredible growth since its debut. Bumble differs slightly in that women automatically get to make the first move, rather than choosing.

Ginsberg has also launched a new campaign for OkCupid that “emphasizes shared hobbies over hookups.”

Do dating apps kill the romance of dating, or are they actually helping bring more people together? A lively debate on this topic was held the night of February 6^th in New York, with a panel of experts arguing for and against the motion: Dating Apps Have Killed Romance.

Let’s face it, if you’ve tried online dating, or had a friend who’s dabbled in it (more than 49 million Americans have), chances are you’ve heard a few horror stories. This was the focus of the argument from Eric Klinenberg, co-author with Aziz Ansari of the book Modern Romance, and Manoush Zamoroti, podcast host and journalist who argued for the motion. Citing stories of dates and relationships gone wrong, they argued that not only have dating apps killed romance, they have killed civility among daters. Ultimately, apps have changed the dating culture, and not for the better.

They argued that online dating specifically breeds bad behavior, because people are able to hide behind a screen – or worse, they have stopped interacting or knowing how to interact in real life. Zamoroti gave an example of one of her podcast listeners walking into a bar and seeing a line of single men ordering drinks and swiping on Tinder, ignoring the people around them completely. Plus, some online daters have become emboldened to send lude messages online, which makes the experience even more painful and depressing for other daters.

Valentine’s Day is approaching, which means more news stories about the prospects of finding love online. Dating apps have changed the romantic landscape in recent years and offered more opportunities to meet new people, but have they really helped daters meet their ultimate goals?

On February 6^th Intelligence Squared U.S., a non-profit organization which encourages thoughtful discussion and debate, will be hosting a live debate from New York City: "Swipe Left: Dating Apps Have Killed Romance."

In a nod to the complicated state of dating today, the keynote will be delivered by Daniel Jones, longtime editor of the hugely popular New York Times’ essay column ‘Modern Love.’

OkCupid is shaking things up again. After announcing on December 11, 2017 that it would be overhauling its messaging system to more closely resemble those of competitors like Tinder and Bumble, the company revealed plans for an even more controversial change: a real name policy that marks the end for traditional usernames.

A December 21 blog post explained the reasoning behind the elimination of usernames. The post describes the (often frivolous) pseudonyms as “a pain to come up with and a pain to remember”, and notes that though they can be “a great way to show off who you are”, users are instead encouraged to “use your profile to give people an insight into your interests.”

The change erases a key difference between OkCupid and many of its rivals, which require users to log in via Facebook in order to display their real names on their profiles. The 13-year-old dating service said “it’s time to keep up with the times.”

Recipient
OkCupid

The 2018 Editor's award for Top Pick - Innovative goes to OkCupid. OkCupid is a dating service that really wants to match you with the right person. With OkCupids Match Questions feature it allows users to post questions for other members to anwser. You can even sepecify to have 1 or more questions to be answered before they can send you an actually message. Privacy is very important OkCupid. Members don't know if you have ever visited their profiles unless you like them or send them a message.

Speaking of messages, OkCupid revamped their member communication system recently. Gone is the traditional dating messaging system where you can message any member you want. With the new Conversations feature members can only message and/or read messages from someone else if they have either sent them a message first or expressed interest. This feature has increased matches on OkCupid by over 30% while decreasing unwanted messages by almost 70%.

Any company needs to evolve in order to stay relevant, and given the especially speedy pace at which the world of online dating advances, it’s even more important for companies in the industry to regularly innovate.

OkCupid has remained a leading name in the market since its launch 13 years ago. But that also makes it one of the older names, facing stiff competition from younger upstarts like Tinder and Bumble.

To ensure it remains a go-to for singles in an increasingly saturated industry, OkCupid has announced a major update to its messaging system. Open messaging - which allows any user to contact any other user without restrictions - will be eliminated a favor of a system more akin to those of Bumble and Tinder, in which only users who have indicated interest in each other can easily access each other's conversations.