Online Dating

OkCupid's Member Pledge

There must be something in the air. Not long after Tinder issued a statement asking users to remove their tiger photos, OkCupid has launched an attack on another infamous dating pest: the unsolicited dick pic.

The company took a stand against harassment and unwanted, sexually explicit messages in a blog entitled “Because You’re Better Than A Dick Pic.” The post announced a new OkCupid Member Pledge, which requires all users to agree not to send objectionable content before they are allowed to interact with the OkCupid community.

“While we rely in large part on our iconic questions to create potentially meaningful connections, it’s the people on either end of the app who ultimately have to cultivate a spark,” says OkCupid CEO Elie Seidman. “With the Member Pledge, we’re putting the power in our daters’ hands. This new feature reminds our members that, if you wouldn’t say it to someone you just met at a bar, you shouldn’t be saying it online.”

Popular dating app Bumble is a rising star among competitors to Tinder, mainly because of its female-friendly focus, giving women the power to initiate contact with matches. Now, Bumble is expanding beyond the dating scene with its new platform BumbleBizz, aiming to connect professionals looking for a new job, a business partner, or to hire new talent.

According to a feature in Fast Company, Bumble aims to give LinkedIn a run for their money, focusing once again on women in the workplace. Bumble itself is a female-only operation, with CEO Whitney Wolfe (a former co-founder of Tinder), at the helm. She has hired a team of women to help grow the company and launch BumbleBizz.

Notably, Wolfe is aiming to attract women. BumbleBizz works as its dating app counterpart does, where anyone can create profiles and swipe, but women initiate contact. While LinkedIn might be king of networking opportunities, Bumble aims to give it a run for its money by targeting a female demographic and giving them a leg-up.

I am always looking for the latest dating service statistics and I see that the research firm IBISWorld has updated their report on dating services in the United States for 2017. I don't have access to the complete report but they do list a few statistics on their summary page.

Now when people think of dating services they think of just online dating. In today's world online dating covers both websites and dating apps (mobile dating). This is not the complete picture though as matchmakers, and singles events (meeting people in real life) are also included in these statistics.

In 2017 revenue is expected to be over $3 billion USD. Annual growth from 2012 to 2017 is 5.3%. In all there are 6,747 companies in the dating business who employee 9,592 people.

If you are interested in more information on the dating industry you can check out our Dating Industry facts and statistics page which also includes information on the more popular companies in the dating world along with different statistics about relationships when related to meeting online.

The ultimate goal of dating apps is real-life love, but all too often, users find their swipes end in ghosted message threads. Though services like How About We have emerged to encourage singles to take their digital romances offline as soon as possible, many still struggle to turn online matches into in-person connections.

A recent trend in online dating appears to be yet another effort to connect users IRL. Apps from Bumble to Happn to Tinder are opening spaces and hosting events around the world to bring their members together.

Bumble opened its first physical location in New York City earlier this summer. Dubbed ‘The Hive,’ the installation was clad head-to-toe in Bumble’s branding and offered users and non-users alike a date spot, a place to hang with friends, a co-working space, or a quiet respite from the buzz of city life. The Hive featured a coffee bar, a real bar, and a shop with Bumble merchandise. It also hosted styling sessions from Drybar and a series of talks and social events.

Dating apps catering to exclusive clientele are becoming an increasingly prominent part of the industry. The League may be the most famous example, but there’s also Inner Circle and the mysterious Raya. Even Tinder has gotten in on the game with Tinder Select, a secret, members-only version of the app for its top users.

Loveflutter is the latest company to jump on the elite bandwagon with a new premium version of its app, called BLUE. BLUE promises to admit users into an exclusive world full of “celebrities and other Twitter blue tick holders” - in other words, you can woo Twitter’s hottest verified singles, providing you too have that little blue check by your name.

In a world overrun by YouTube stars and Instagram influencers, BLUE may sound like a ploy to appeal to today’s social media-obsessed singles - and in some ways it probably is - but it also serves a genuine purpose: safety.

Dating apps are proving to be a surprisingly loud voice in the fight against hate, harassment, and cruelty.

First, Tinder spoke out for animal rights by asking users to remove photos taken with tigers, which are often mistreated in the name of letting tourists take selfies with the world’s wildest inhabitants.

Then, OkCupid took a stand against harassment and unwanted, sexually explicit messages by introducing a Member Pledge to remind users to treat each other with kindness and respect.

Now, following the violence and tragic death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, dating services are again stepping up to ensure their users can meet in a safe and welcoming space, free from hatred and discrimination.