Matching

Alex Hofman, a tech investor and former president of Musical.ly (which later became TikTok), has launched a new dating app called Spark.

Spark employs some traditional dating app features with a twist, and with some extra safety precautions. According to Tech Crunch, when a user logs in, they are presented with a grid of potential matches who are on the app at the same time. If the user sees someone they are interested in, they can like the photo – and if there is a mutual like, they can start chatting, but they only have 24 hours to respond or the match goes away.

Tech Crunch pointed out that while there is no swiping like in traditional dating apps, it has a mixture of similar features. Grindr for example, presents users with a grid of multiple people, but they don’t have to match before being able to message each other which leads to a lot of unwanted communication. Bumble puts a 24-hour time limit on matches to encourage them to communicate more quickly.

Emma Hernan, one of the stars of reality show Selling Sunset, created an Internet frenzy when she revealed in a new episode that she and Ben Affleck matched on dating app Raya.

She told fellow reality star Chrishell Stause in the episode that the actor “may or may not have asked to grab coffee a few times” as they were messaging over the app. She also noted that he initiated conversation by bringing up their shared background of growing up in Boston. Stause replied that Hernan could have “foiled Bennifer,” and Hernan agreed that “maybe that wouldn’t have happened” if she had followed through and kept messaging him, according to E! News.

Affleck is now engaged to actress Jennifer Lopez, which caused fans to speculate on the timing and whether or not he cheated on Lopez if he was still texting with Hernan. The rumors grew when Lopez posted a photo on Instagram wearing a short red dress and boots stating that she was going out for a “girl’s night.”

Image: Tinder

Tinder announced the launch of its new feature Festival Mode, designed to bring singles together through their mutual love of live music.

The dating app company partnered with Live Nation, as well as event producers AEG Presents and Superstruct Entertainment to offer users who plan to attend festivals this year the opportunity to connect with other attendees over the app, so they can meet up. Participants can match with others as early as a month before the event, and the app will feature over 20 of the biggest festivals across the globe, including The Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Stagecoach and EDC Las Vegas, as well as Lollapalooza Paris, Falls Festival in Australia, Sonar in Spain and All Points East in the UK. 

The feature will also include a “Festival Goers” space for those who don’t see their event listed or simply want to be part of “festival culture,” according to Tinder’s press release. Festival Mode will be part of the Explore section of the app.

If you are a climate change denier, you are likely to find yourself without a date according to a recent study by dating app OkCupid.

The company surveyed 250,000 of its users worldwide and found that 90 percent said it was important their match care about climate change, and it’s the biggest deal-breaker for dating app users. The issue topped both gun violence and gender equality for respondents. This further confirms the company’s surveys over the past three years of over 6 million of its users, where OkCupid found that overall, 81 percent were concerned about climate change.

In fact, according to OkCupid, climate change and environment questions generate 7.5 million responses worldwide, and is the issue where men's and women's views align more than any other.

As Russia bans more social media platforms, Ukrainians are turning to dating app Tinder to break through the country’s propaganda network.

The U.K.’s Express said that Ukrainians are using Tinder’s Passport feature to match with Russians, and then sharing images from the war over the app to counteract Putin’s propaganda campaign. Russians have been told via state TV that there is no war, and that Russia is “liberating” people in the Ukraine. Putin has banned the use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in an effort to control the narrative.

A Slovakian media agency noted the trend in Tinder and is making it easier for Ukrainians to participate by launching its “Special Love Operation” movement that encourages people to match with Russian singles and flood them with images from the war in Ukraine, so they know what is actually happening. 

New dating apps like Thursday and POM are focusing their efforts on pandemic-weary singles ready to connect via in-person events.

According to a profile of the apps in Business Insider, the apps’ founders saw opportunity as singles grew tired of virtual dating during pandemic lockdowns. As restrictions are starting to lift across the globe, singles are eager to mingle in person again, which is providing new opportunities.

London and New York have both become test cities for Thursday’s events, according to Business Insider. The app has been hosting events in these locations, up to 15 per week that are surpassing venue capacity. This might change in the coming weeks with the latest Omicron surge, but so far it hasn’t slowed the company down.