Online Dating

Do you have what it takes to join The Inner Circle? The super-selective, Amsterdam-based dating platform has officially entered the US market with a launch in New York City.

The Inner Circle’s premise is not unlike The League, another elite dating service that vets potential members before allowing them to join. Both apps aim to create exclusive communities of “high-quality” users - singles who are smart, attractive, ambitious, and career-focused. To do so, new users must apply to join and all applicants are carefully screened before being granted access.

Let’s face it, the U.S. election was a polarizing event, and now that it’s over, people in both camps are weary of those in the other. This can make two strangers who meet via a dating app hesitant about each other. Should they talk politics or not? Will political party allegiance be a factor in whether or not the relationship moves forward?

More and more daters are wondering where their dates stand politically than ever before. For many, it’s not about playing politics, but about connecting over shared values. Conservatives and Democrats are very divided in what’s most important on a more personal level, so much so that it can affect romantic relationships.

Selecting your Gender on Tinder

Last month, Tinder rolled out a new feature for its popular dating app that provides daters with more gender options to complete their profiles. Following a similar move by OkCupid, Tinder users will be given more options than just “male” and “female” when selecting a gender.

By selecting the “More” option, users can choose between almost 40 identities, including “non-binary,” “transgender woman,” “transgender man,” “transmasculine,” “agender,” “two-spirit” and “other.” Users can also write in their own gender identity if none of these options apply.

According to website Slate, this was a move forward by Tinder to reach out to the trans community, who have reported being discriminated against and harassed on the app. Trans users were frequently reported as “spam,” or accused of trolling on the app, typically by other users who weren’t happy to be matched with someone who was trans. As a result of this false reporting, trans users often found themselves unfairly blocked, as Tinder didn’t have the capacity to thoroughly verify each complaint.

Dating apps found their foothold with younger users. Tinder launched on college campuses in 2012, and 90% percent of its earliest users were aged between 18 and 24. It wasn’t chance; it was strategy.

“They thought if this product is successful among that young college demographic, who also happens to be the most social group of people on the planet [and] the least likely to need an app to meet people, it can [work] for anyone,” Tinder spokesperson Rosette Pambaki told Complex.

Tinder’s wager was right, and in the years that followed, it and other apps like it became explosively popular amongst younger users. But times change, and if a company is to survive, it must change with them. The Wall Street Journal reports that dating apps are now welcoming singles in their late 30s and beyond for one simple, but essential, reason: their money.

In the United States and Canada from Thursday, December 8th to Monday, December 12th you will get 3 additional months free when you buy a 6 month membership at eHarmony (eHarmony.com and eHarmony.ca). This promotion gives you more than $100 worth of free subscription months on one of the most popular matchmaking services online.

If you are looking for a long-term relationship then eHarmony is a service you should check out. They have designed and created a matchmaking system based on years of research into what qualities between two people makes a successful relationship last. Their profile questions are design to find out your personality traits so that you can be matched with people who have a compatible personality.

For more information on how this online dating service works, you can read our eHarmony review.

Since Tinder launched in 2012, new users have been given two options to describe themselves: male or female. For much of the population, the decision was easy. But for a significant portion, those two words posed a problem.

Transgender and gender non-conforming Tinder users had no way to accurately identify, and many experienced harassment as a result. When news of their troubling experiences reached company CEO Sean Rad, he decided the app was in need of an update.

New Tinder users are now presented with three options: 'male,' 'female,' and 'more.' Selecting 'more' reveals dozens of new terms members can use to describe their identity. The company partnered with media advocacy organization GLAAD to develop a list of nearly 40 auto-fill suggestions. Users can also type in their own perferred terms.