Online Dating

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 Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd made it her mission to create a platform rooted in kindness and respect, where outdated heterosexual norms are challenged and gender equality is championed both online and in the real world.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.

LGBTQ singles can face a challenging dating landscape. Bars aren't always the best place to meet, and though dating apps are an option, many cater to a hookup-oriented market and most focus solely on lesbian women or gay men. Qutie, a up-and-coming app from LGBT Media Inc., hopes to change that - with a helping hand from the iconic entertainment company Atari.

“We created LGBTQutie after being frustrated with the limited options for LGBTQ people looking for relationships, friendships and meaningful connections,” says Qutie’s campaign on StartEngine, an equity crowdfunding platform. “Our app is inclusive of the full spectrum of LGBTQ sexual orientations and gender identities. LGBTQutie is more than just another dating app. We are community-focused and provide users with content that is relevant to them including LGBTQ specific news, blogs and events.”

Live video chats might be the future of dating according to recent reports, and new Washington D.C.-based dating app Spottle is betting on it.

The way Spottle works is simple: you download the app, and then you can join live video chat sessions on Thursday and Saturday nights at 9:00pm eastern time. The way it works is like an online “spin the bottle” session according to DCist.com, and also acts much like a virtual speed dating event.

Jiayuan now allows users to livestream.

In technology-forward China, single people are looking to new ways of connecting with each other via dating apps beyond the traditional swipe. Now, online dating companies in China are experimenting with livestream, and soon U.S. companies could follow.

Gizmodo reported on the trend of Chinese dating apps integrating livestream features into their platforms. Jiayuan, China’s largest dating app, launched its new livestream feature this past January with an interesting twist. Instead of two users opting to chat with each other over the app in private (like with Facetime), a user can set up a chat topic and see if someone wants to join. Once one person accepts and the two start a chat, it becomes a broadcast where other users can watch and comment.

Image: Bumble

Starting in June, artificial intelligence will shield Bumble users from unsolicited lewd photographs sent through the app’s messaging tool. The AI feature - which has been dubbed Private Detector, as in “private parts” - will automatically blur explicit photos shared within a chat and warn the user that they’ve received an obscene image. The user can then decide if they want to view the image or block it, and if they’d like to report it to Bumble’s moderators.

“With our revolutionary AI, we are able to detect potentially inappropriate content and warn you about the image before you open it,” says a screenshot of the new feature. “We are committed to keeping you protected from unsolicited photos or offensive behavior so you can have a safe experience meeting new people on Bumble.”