How in love are couples in America? What exactly makes a relationship thrive? For the second year running, eHarmony has released The Happiness Index: Love and Relationships in America to answer these questions and others. The national survey took place online between December 13, 2018 and January 3, 2019, with 2,327 interviews conducted by Harris Interactive.

eHarmony wastes no time announcing the good news: 83 percent of Americans are happy in their romantic relationships. Those who are blissfully paired up say the secret to their success is having a monogamous relationship with open communication, a healthy sex life, and an equal partnership between both halves. Only one in nine people say they are unhappy with their partner or spouse. These troubled couples are often together for companionship rather than love, have infrequent sex, and feel a sense of inequality in their relationship.

This year, a strong correlation between romantic happiness and an interest in social justice issues emerged. Couples who reported shared awareness of important cultural movements, such as #MeToo, also reported increased relationship happiness. Additional links emerged between relationship happiness and openness about mental health, honest political discourse, and voting in the 2018 midterm elections.

Is OkCupid the latest dating platform to fall victim to hackers? That depends on who you ask.

A news story from TechCrunch reports that an OkCupid user reached out to the tech news site after a hacker broke into his OkCupid account, reset his password and changed the email address on file. OkCupid instantly accepted the address change, he said, without sending an email asking for confirmation that the change was correct. When he contacted OkCupid’s customer service about the issue, he was told the company was “not able to provide any details about accounts not connected to your email address.”

The user is now locked out of his account with no way to reset his password and regain access. Making matters worse, the hacker began harassing him with “strange text messages” from his phone number that was taken from one of his private messages.

The “coolest” new dating trend? If Samsung has a say, your smart fridge will soon be your go-to matchmaker. The electronics giant has recently announced its most surprising venture yet, a dating platform they’ve punnily dubbed Refrigerdating.

Refrigerdating promises to help singles find love based on the contents of their fridge. “In a world of social media, polished pictures and perfect surfaces, it can be hard to find out who truly is The One,” says Samsung. “But there is one space in our homes to which the polish hasn’t reached.“ That space is the inside of your refrigerator, which, if Samsung is to be believed, can say a surprising amount about who you are and what you’re into.

"We hope people can meet under more honest or transparent circumstances with the help of the contents of the fridge, because that can tell you a lot about the personality," said Elin Axelsson, PR manager at Samsung Electronics Nordic.

Dawoon Kang hosts Reddit AMA

Image: dawoonkang

What can users do to increase their success on a dating app? What advice do you have for someone who is trying to get a startup off the ground? Is the first Sunday of the year really the busiest day for online dating? Why made you turn down $30 million from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank?

When Dawoon Kang, co-founder and co-CEO of Coffee Meets Bagel, hosts a Reddit AMA, no question is off limits. The entrepreneur went live on r/IAmA on Tuesday 22nd January to answer users’ burning queries about getting noticed on a dating app, the ongoing battle against bots, starting a business, what the name ‘Coffee Meets Bagel’ means, and more.

Dawoon launched Coffee Meets Bagel with her sisters, Soo and Arum, in 2012. Since then, CMB has made over 50 million matches with a focus on meaningful connections and an algorithm that prioritizes quality over quantity. Though turning down a multi-million dollar offer from one of the world’s biggest investors may seem mad, the Kang sisters have proved they’re a family force to be reckoned with.

The 2018 Winter Olympics brought a flurry of Tinder activity to South Korea. Competitors in the Olympic Villages received free Tinder Gold upgrades, while premium users around the world used the Passport feature to change their location to PyeongChang in hopes of matching with an athlete. Tinder reported a 1,850 percent increase in “passporting” swipers and a 348 percent increase in overall Tinder usage in the Olympic Villages.

Outside of the Olympic Games, it’s a different story for Tinder. The dating platform has struggled to outdo local services in South Korea, where meeting a romantic partner via a mobile app is not yet as socially acceptable as it has become in many western nations. Despite these difficulties, Tinder CEO Elie Seidman believes South Korea is a crucial testing ground for the service, and in a press conference in Seoul, Seidman indicated the company would take a different tack as it looks to expand in Asia.

All the awards have been handed out for the 12^th annual Dating Sites Reviews Choice Awards. These awards honor the best dating apps and sites of 2018 in 11 different categories. The dating services listed below are the ones worth checking out in 2019 for those interesting in participating in online dating to find a partner.

Our top award is the Single's Choice Award which is decided by our readers. To participate all you had to do was cast a vote in our poll which ran from October 1^st 2018 until December 31^st 2018. The poll asks you to recommend your choice for the top dating service (app and/or site) from a selection of the ten leading dating services on the internet. The top three dating services who receives the most votes will be the recipient of a Gold, Silver, and Bronze award.

Single's Choice Award

Recipient Tinder

Our Gold Single's Choice Award for 2019 goes to Tinder. This dating app popularity grew in leaps and bounds and is the most popular dating service on the internet today. Thanks to its ease of use and gamification of matching with swiping, it has won over the new and old generation alike.

For full award information see the article: 2019 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award

Recipient POF

Our Silver Single's Choice Award of 2019 goes to Plenty of Fish. The first popular free dating service, POF remains a top choice for singles thanks to the number of members they have and all of the free features offered. With POF, you can keep your online dating experience as simply or as detailed as you like.

For full award information see the article: 2019 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award

Recipient OkCupid

The 2019 Bronze Single's Choice Award recipient is OkCupid. This dating service allows users to fashion their own questions for matches or pick from others created by OkCupid staff and members. OkCupid members are real fans of the service and their approach to matching.

For full award information see the article: 2019 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award