Dating Services

Cast your mind back to 2004. The year was a big one for the blossoming industry known as social media. Facebook debuted and went on to become the world’s largest social networking platform. Tagged and Hi5 also launched in 2004, and though they remained relatively under the radar, both earned significant revenue through games and paid features.

Tagged purchased Hi5 in 2011. After renaming the parent company ‘If(we)’ and changing its focus to social app development, revenue began to drop. Plans for an IPO were also dropped. Now, six years later, social discovery platform MeetMe has acquired If(we) for $60 million in cash.

In time for Valentine’s Day, online dating service Match released its seventh annual Singles in America study, the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind.

This year’s focus was a little different from previous studies, exploring new dating rituals, shifting gender roles, and the impact social media has had on the dating culture.

First, thanks to mobile apps and the accessibility of online dating, almost one in six singles (15%) of those surveyed by Match feel addicted to the process of looking for a date. Millennials are 125% more likely to say they feel addicted to dating than older generations. And men are 97% more likely to feel addicted to dating than women – although more women feel more burned out by the process (54%).

If anyone can make bold predictions about the future of online dating, it’s industry game-changer and Tinder CEO Sean Rad. This month at the StartUp Grind Global Conference in California, he shared that dating apps could soon be using augmented reality technology to help users meet.

He explained that the technology would help people meet in real time, and work similarly to Pokemon Go. For instance, if you walk down the street and point your smartphone at someone you find attractive, you can find out immediately whether or not they are single. And if you are single and dating, you could also send virtual signals to someone you pass, letting them know you’re interested. This could work through technology like Google Glass as well as your phone.

Match.com has released its seventh annual Singles in America study, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive annual survey of dating in the United States.

The 2017 survey is set to reveal surprising data and trends on new dating rituals, the impact of social media on the dating landscape, shifting gender roles, and attitudes about love, sex, and relationships across generations.

Unsurprisingly, Millennials were a major focus of the study. The much talked-about generation is “diligently using technology to find love,” says Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and Chief Scientific Advisor to Match, “and building new dating rules and taboos along the way.”

Are you sick of all the messaging and scheduling you do on your preferred dating app? Do you sometimes wish someone could just…do it for you?

Hinge thinks so, and currently the company is beta-testing a new app called Audrey, which automates the online dating process for you. If you find someone attractive on the app, Audrey will reach out, make an introduction, and if the feeling is mutual, will schedule a date for you to meet.

The app will cost about $99 per month, or that is the price point they are using for beta testing in New York, so it might change. According to Hinge’s website, the process for using Audrey goes as follows:

Snapchat’s success has influenced everyone from Instagram to Facebook, and now Bumble is getting in on the game. The dating app will soon launch BumbleVID, a feature that allows users to create stories with unlimited 10-second videos that automatically delete after 24 hours.

BumbleVID will be familiar to singles who already use Snapchat and Instagram. Users can record their videos from directly within the Bumble app, and personalize their clips by drawing on the videos. Eventually the company plans to introduce additional features, like filters and geotagging, that will also be recognizable to regular social media users.

After a video is posted to a profile, it can be viewed by anyone who comes across the profile while swiping. The videos will also appear on the connections and conversations page, providing easy access to the video stories of anyone you’re connected with or currently talking to.