Online Dating

Online dating has been accused of ruining romance, fueling hook-up culture, spreading STDs, promoting superficiality, undermining marriage, eroding traditional values, and that’s just a scratch in the surface of the critiques levied against modern matchmaking.

But for all the complaining we’ve done - and likely will continue to do - about online dating, it’s not all doom and gloom. Recent research suggests the rise of digital dating services could be behind stronger marriages, more connections between people from different social circles, and an increase in interracial partnerships.

Economists Josue Ortega at the University of Essex and Philipp Hergovich at the University of Vienna in Austria set out to examine how today’s tech-savvy singles are changing society.

Online dating algorithms have gotten a lot of attention (and criticism) because they’re the basis of how matchmaking works. Many dating apps are secretive about their matching process, but traditionally, algorithms match people on the basis of profile information, questionnaires, and user preferences.

But according to a recent article by Gizmodo, online dating companies can collect more information about their customers through analyzing user behavior, which includes what users do on social media as well as on the dating app. Companies are now starting to use this behavioral data for matchmaking purposes rather than relying on profiles and user preferences.

eHarmony, Match and OkCupid are known for their long surveys and profile questions, which they maintain helps them more accurately assess potential matches. But dating apps like Tinder, Bumble and LoveFlutter prefer mining users’ social media streams, bypassing questions and looking to online behavior.

It’s been a big year for The League. The members-only dating app for “high-achieving” singles launched for Android in January, and has expanded to more than 20 cities including London, Toronto, Miami, Detroit, Denver, Seattle, and Portland.

Only a lucky few are accepted onto the app, after passing through a strict screening process that now requires applicants to be “attractive enough to at least look good in black-and-white photos.”

That’s right, The League is going monochrome.

The company announced Monochrome View in a blog post on October 24. The new feature displays every profile’s first picture in black and white, requiring users to swipe through all the pictures if they wish to see the same photo in full color. The question is: why?

Save traveling to an untouched tribe in the Amazonian rainforest, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of Match Group.

The company was a pioneer in the industry, becoming the first major dating site to register a domain in 1995. Today Match Group offers dating products in 38 languages across more than 190 countries, and boasts a portfolio of over 45 brands including Match, OkCupid, Tinder, PlentyOfFish and Our Time.

So what keeps Match Group on top, more than two decades later?

Tired of swiping right and exchanging flirty emojis, only to be ghosted before you’ve ever met in person?

Craig Cole was disillusioned with the lack of face-to-face meetings in online dating, so he created Doppler Social App to get singles out from behind their screens and on dates IRL.

“In my experience, once I swipe right and match with someone, I immediately either connect with them through the phone and it fizzles out over two weeks, or we continue talking and make plans to meet up that never come to fruition,” Cole wrote for Built In Los Angeles. “We spend so much time ‘talking’ over text and through apps, that we never actually make time to meet each other in person. We are constantly canceling plans and flaking out on our friends or potential dates. I was tired of the disconnect." 

Free communication is back! Starting Thursday November 9^th and running to the end of day on Monday November 13^th eHarmony members can communicate with their matches for free in the United States.

To send messages at no cost on eHarmony all you need to do is create an eHarmony account. No credit card is required, just your time to create a profile and fill out the personality questionnaire. This process takes about 30 minutes and when complete you will receive your first batch of matches. On eHarmony you cannot search for members. Instead they send you a number of high quality matches everyday for you to review. If you find one or more you like you can then go ahead and send them a message. The only thing not included during this promotion are profile photos.

For more about this online dating company, please check out our review of eHarmony.