Dating Services

IRL - In Real Life

Why won’t my dating app connections respond to my messages? Is my job turning off potential partners? Is it honest to photoshop your dating app pics? Should I Google the people I meet on dating apps before going out with them? Is meeting in real life over?

These are some of the questions Hinge is tackling in its latest venture, a digital magazine called IRL. Launched last month, IRL is updated daily with advice drawn from the heaps of data Hinge has collected on users over the years.

Justin McLeod, Hinge's founder & CEO, told Mashable, “Our Member Experience team constantly receives emails from members asking for a wide-range of dating app advice.” He said it was clear that “singles wanted a safe space to ask dating app related questions and receive reliable, data-backed advice.”

Have you met someone over your favorite dating app and questioned their honesty? Chances are, if you’re an active online dater you have, and you’re not alone. Many daters are distrustful of other daters, and can’t tolerate even a small “white lie” – whether it’s fudging your weight, age or income, according to a new study by dating site Match.

This is because many of us aren’t exactly honest with our dates. In fact, Match’s annual Singles in America study surveyed over 5,000 daters in the U.S. across a range of ages, ethnicities, and regions to determine how much (and what type) of small lies they would tolerate on a first date before turning down a second date.

Match found the majority of daters – 57% - claim they do not tell white lies while they’re dating. Moreover, two thirds of daters believe any small fib is unacceptable. In fact, your chances of getting a second date or having sex aren’t made better by lying, so the consensus among singles is: just don’t do it.

No, it’s not just in your head: most of your friends are online dating.

In a recent survey, Tinder took a deep-dive into Millennial dating habits and compared the experiences of online daters and offline daters. They looked at key differentiators around fidelity, communication, perception and mindfulness, and debunked some of the most persistent modern dating myths out there.

For starters, dating services haven’t ruined dating, despite what critics say. In fact, people who date online are likely to have more committed relationships than those who do not date online. Only 9 percent of Tinder users reported finding it challenging to maintain a committed relationship. That’s significantly lower than the national average.

Spark Networks and Affinitas GmbH have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger. The merger will bring together leading global brands like JDate, ChristianMingle, EliteSingles, and eDarling to cater to a broad spectrum of users with a presence in 26 countries, creating a more diverse and balanced footprint.

With nearly 500,000 period-ending subscribers and over $115 million in revenue for the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, the combined company would be one of the world's largest online dating providers on a pro forma basis.

The transaction has been approved by Spark's Board of Directors and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. The combined company will be named Spark Networks SE and will be headquartered in Berlin, Germany, while maintaining a significant U.S. presence with offices in New York City and Lehi, Utah.

Sudan's Tinder Profile

When you picture your perfect date, they probably don’t have a horn and leathery skin - yet the most eligible bachelor on Tinder currently fits that description. Meet Sudan, the last known male northern white rhino in existence.

In early April, Tinder launched a campaign in partnership with the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya to help save Sudan’s species from extinction. His profile on the app features an image of him tucking into a grassy meal, along with a call to action: “This is the last living male northern white rhino. Swipe right to help him find a match.”

His bio is both humble and humorous (a winning combination on any dating service). “I’m one of a kind,” it reads. “No seriously, I’m the last male white rhino on planet earth. I don’t mean to be too forward, but the fate of my species literally depends on me. I perform well under pressure. I like to eat grass and chill in the mud. No problems. 6ft tall and 5,000lbs if it matters.”

Slack, a popular messaging app used in workplaces to schedule meetings and chat with your co-workers, has entered into new territory. Now, you can date your co-workers over Slack, too.

Dating app Feeld announced its integration onto the Slack platform late April. It works like this: when you download the Feeld app in Slack, you can let the app know who of your colleagues you’re interested in. If Feeld notices your co-worker has admitted to being attracted to you, too, it will let both of you know and you can take it from there (and start your flirtatious messaging over Slack). If your co-worker doesn’t return the affection, he’s never alerted to your interest.

So essentially, you can get confirmation of your crush without him or her knowing.