Stories

Dating & New York Film

The new rom com film Dating & New York is a new take on modern dating and the strange rules of dating app culture.

According to Variety, the story revolves around Milo and Wendy, two single-something New Yorkers who don’t meet serendipitously at a party or waiting in line for coffee, but rather find each other through a dating app. They both swipe right on the fictional app Meet Cute, and since they are both commitment-averse, they form a friends-with-benefits relationship with no attachment or long-term plans.

Dating in a big city is also at the heart of the story, where young singles feel both overlooked and exhausted from choice in a time where anybody can go on a dating app and meet someone else. It takes much more commitment to try and form a relationship. 

CEO Adam Cohen-Aslatei on S’More TV

Image: S'More

Dating app S’More is testing a new feature called S’more TV, offering users access to celebrity interviews and other videos the company has produced.

S’More TV was inspired by the company’s Instagram Live feed, where CEO Adam Cohen-Aslatei has been interviewing reality TV stars, WWE athletes and models about their dating lives and other dating-related topics. After gathering more than 50 hours of content according to Tech Crunch, he decided to launch the new feature and provide the content directly to users from the app as a “conversation-starter.”

To promote the new feature, S’More users will now receive prompts directing them to watch S’More TV, where they will be able to comment on the videos. Commenting is encouraged, because the feature is intended to help users attract potential matches as well as giving them a starting point for conversation.

Tinder and Everywell are giving away Covid Tests

To prepare for a surge of daters looking to meet in person, Tinder is giving away free at-home Covid test kits. The kits will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be offered on March 20th at 7pm EST – the first day of spring.

In partnership with Everlywell, the maker of federally approved Covid-19 test kits, Tinder will give 1,000 kits to people (500 couples) who have made plans to meet up, according to CNN. The kits come with a nose swab, which you use and return back to the lab to wait for results to post online, usually 1-2 days later. 

The popular dating app company said that 40 percent of its customers under age 30 haven’t met in person because of fear of the coronavirus, so it’s hoping this will help ease some anxiety.

A new investment scam targeting dating app users has been detected by Interpol, according to ZDNet.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a “purple notice” to 194 member countries, describing a new money-making scheme on dating apps, according to ZDNet. Interpol stated that the scam “takes advantage of people’s vulnerabilities as they look for potential matches, and lures them into sophisticated fraud scheme.”

The scammers have set up fake profiles in apps like Tinder, Bumble, and eHarmony, and match with users who don’t know they are scammers. The scammers then message their targets pretending to be interested in them romantically in order to build trust, occasionally giving them investment “tips” to turn the conversation towards money.

Washington D.C. has increased its National Guard presence since the riots at the Capitol on January 6th, and these troops are turning to Tinder to find love while they work.

According to Newsweek, there have been reports on TikTok that Tinder has been flooded with photos of men in uniform, which is highly unusual for the Washington D.C. area. While these officers are sharing photos in their fatigues, they are also sharing interests like traveling and video games, according to Newsweek.

People are taking to social media to point out this trend, noting how many more military people are showing up as potential matches. In fact, some users in the DC area said the majority of profiles they see are members of the National Guard. Even a reporter for Sports Illustrated noticed the increase in these profiles.

Politically active singles used dating apps to reach out to people in swing state districts and encourage them to vote.

Election Day was November 3rd, though ballots are still being counted and tensions are high as the country remains polarized politically. Activists and organizers got creative in reaching people during a pandemic, in hopes of driving high voter turnout. Connecting with young singles in swing states via dating apps seemed an effective way to engage, rather than with traditional voter outreach methods.

The term “Hinge-banking” became a popular practice according to CNN. It’s a twist on phone banking, a typical tool used to encourage voter participation – but instead using the dating app to reach singles to ask them about their voting plans.