Online Dating

With the explosion of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, there has never been a more public conversation around sexual assault, abuse and consent. Gay social network Hornet is the latest company to take a stand against sexual violence, partnering with Planned Parenthood and the Los Angeles LGBT Center to support survivors and provide education for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“Sex education is where sexual assault prevention begins, for all people — not just LGBTs,” says Sean Howell, President of Hornet. “The public deserves this kind of information. We must work to take care of our community and will continue to provide helpful information that gives the community skills to navigate healthy relationships, sex and consent.”

As the largest global LGBT newsroom, Hornet stands to play an important role in this initiative.

What’s a bigger turn off: a sloppy kiss or sloppy grammar? According to the second annual “Conversation Nation” study from Plenty of Fish, adult singles consider lackluster conversation a greater offense than lousy sex.

POF took a deep dive into the communication habits of daters across the U.S. for Conversation Nation 2018, surveying 2,000 men and women over 18 years of age to discover how singles connect in the digital era.

“Singles are prioritizing conversations over physical attraction,” dating expert Shannon Smith told Metro. “We’re seeing again and again from user testimonials and data that relationships start with a great conversation.”

Datehookup.com in October, 2017

At the beginning of May someone in our forums noted that the SSL security certificate had expired for the domain DateHookup.com. With the expiry all interent browsers would present someone who visits DateHookup.com with an error message explaining that the certificate is invalid. At this point the visitor has the option to continue on to the site or not. A SSL certificate allows the use of the https protocol and any information that passes from the internet browser to the DateHookup web server would be encrypted. If the certificate is invalid or the website uses only http protocol then the information traveling between the web browser and the server could be retrieved by a hacker with the right tools.

Updating your SSL certificate usually is an easy process and I am surprised to see that it was not done.

Spark Networks SE, the platform behind dating brands including EliteSingles, Jdate, Christian Mingle, and Silversingles, has released its second half and full year 2017 financial results.

The report comes nearly six months after Affinitas and Spark Networks Inc. merged to form Spark Networks SE. The companies’ combined portfolios position Spark Networks SE as a leader in the serious segment of the dating market with a global network of nearly half a million monthly paying subscribers across 29 countries.

"With the close of the merger between Affinitas GmbH ("Affinitas") and Spark Networks, Inc. ("Spark") in November 2017, we have created a pure-play leader in the dating industry with increased scale and a portfolio of well-known brands," said Jeronimo Folgueira, Chief Executive Officer of Spark Networks SE, in a statement. "We have only just begun to realize the benefits of the merger, as the results we reported today include just two months of Spark's performance.”

A Facebook engineer was fired for exploiting his position and access to personal information of Facebook users, according to website Tech Crunch. It’s reported that the firing resulted after the engineer’s messages with a match on Tinder were shared with company executives.

Over Twitter, Spyglass Security Founder Jackie Stokes revealed that someone she knew received “creepy messages” over Tinder, and she had confirmed it was an engineer employed by Facebook.

Stokes then posted a screenshot of the offender’s message, where he called himself a “professional stalker” and claimed to have access to the user’s personal data. He also shared private information about the user via their messages, information that she hadn’t shared publicly on social media.

Do men and women think differently when it comes to receiving compliments over a dating app? According to a recent study by website AskMen.com, the gender gap in this area is problematic for online dating. Turns out, men and women are in totally different camps when it comes to giving and receiving compliments in the romance department.

AskMen surveyed 1,000 people in 2018 about their preferences for online dating, including ranking their favorite compliments. The purpose? To see where the divide is when reaching out to the opposite sex for a date. If you’re a guy wondering why you don’t hear back from matches after you compliment them on their appearance, this could be the reason. Or if you’re a woman, complimenting a guy on his intelligence isn’t the best way to stir up intrigue and romance, either.

In other words, just because you like receiving compliments about your looks or your personality doesn’t mean the opposite sex thinks the same way! Here’s how the results played out.