Dating Services

An article in last month’s Vanity Fair attacked apps like Tinder as being promoters of hook-up culture among young daters. The article caused a wave of dialogue, backlash and upset, with many people wondering if dating apps were in fact “killing” the culture of dating and navigating relationships.

While technology has been blamed for bad behavior, dating app Hinge is aiming to distinguish itself from its popular and notorious competitor, Tinder. Instead of taking the bait and offering more Tinder-like services like many dating apps looking for success in this growing market, Hinge is taking the hook-up culture argument to heart. Instead of fighting the article's argument, the company is offering an update to its app in acknowledgment of the problem - with an “Intentions” feature.

The update offers a new profile page where users are encouraged up front to include their intentions for using the app, whether it’s to find a relationship, to date, or a casual hook-up. Hinge hopes that this gives more transparency in the online dating process.

According to Hinge, most of the people coming to its app are looking for something more serious than a hook-up. When the company surveyed 1,500 of its users, they discovered that sixty-three percent claim they are looking for relationships, 33% for dating, and only 2% for hook-ups.

The company’s last update called out daters who weren’t being truthful about being single, which has also caused an uproar among Tinder users. (A survey earlier this year found that more than 40% of Tinder users were already in a relationship.) Hinge now publishes each user’s relationship status (that the user shares on Facebook), so there’s no mistaking whether or not a user is single.

The company also added a new feature in August called HingePerks for its most dedicated users, offering discounts and contests for things like trips, ball games, and drinks. The first promotion was a free “staycation” at a Starwood Hotel with a spa service included. They have also offered concert tickets for social media participation (including liking on Facebook, tagging and sharing), as well as a free bottle of wine for the Hinge couple that posts a fun photo on Instagram.

Since its inception, the company has focused on its primary user base – young professionals, another way to distinguish itself from Tinder, which got its start on college campuses and whose demographic skews a bit younger than Hinge’s. In the last month, Hinge has promoted their “most eligible” male and female users according to profession, offering basic profile information. Hinge also asks their most embarrassing date moment and greatest career accomplishment to date.

Whether Hinge's strategy succeed in this competitive dating app market is yet to be seen. But it does offer daters a more interesting and engaging alternative to the dating app experience. For more on this dating app, please check out our review of Hinge.

Just when you thought you'd mastered the swipe left and the swipe right, Tinder throws a curve ball into your love life: a swipe up.

Meet the 'Super Like,' a brand new feature that takes the grand romantic gesture into digital territory. By swiping upwards on a potential date instead of left or right, you can show them that you're interested – like, super interested – before they decide which way to swipe on your profile.

After Super Liking someone, a blue banner declaring “So-and-so super liked you!" will appear underneath your name and age in their list of matches. If the attraction is mutual, the super-swiper will have a blue star next to their name in your list of matches.

Super Liking is not something to take lightly. Each user gets a limited number of Super Likes per day – only one – so use them wisely.

"Because they're so limited in number, a Super Like, or a 'swipe up', sends a more powerful signal, conveying an especially high level of interest," Tinder CEO Sean Rad told Engadget. "People like to know that someone finds them special, and we think this will lead to even better matches."

Tech analysts have dug deeper into the intention behind the new feature. Many believe the Super Like was introduced because Tinder has deviated from its original purpose. Instead of using the app to find real dates, many are using it only to kill time. Super Like may help restore Tinder's lost value.

“I can't help feeling the fact that Tinder has to keep imposing limits on swiping and adding features to encourage selective swiping suggests the swiping system is feeling the strain,” writes Rich Trenholm for CNET. “With many profiles complaining their matches never actually chat with them, it seems the Super Like is an attempt to restore some of the weight of a match.”

Tinder has celebrated the arrival of the Super Like with a cinematic superhero-themed advertisement featuring models Erin Heatherton and Nina Agdal (see below). The feature will launch first in Australia and is slated to roll out globally later this year.

Alongside the Super Like, Rad has also stated that the Tinder Plus version will launch soon. The new version limits the number of right swipes a user can make in a 24-hour period, and introduces Undo and Passport options. These advanced settings will be available for a monthly fee.

For more on this dating app your can read our review of Tinder.

Ever wonder what dating is like in another part of the world? I'm going to assume the answer is yes, because I don't know a single person who doesn't have a weakness for a sexy foreign accent.

The problem is, dating could be a totally different experience in the land that sexy foreign accent comes from. You might think you're being cool while they think you look crazy – and unless crazy is their type, that isn't going to get you very far.

Coffee Meets Bagel has published the results of a new study on dating trends around the world, so you'll be a little less clueless during your next international love affair. CMB asked 7,441 users from around the globe about everything from their eligibility to how much they’re willing to pay on the first date. Here's what they found.

The easiest city in the world to date, if you're a man, is Hong Kong. Sydney comes in second place, followed by New York, London, Toronto, and San Francisco. If you're a woman, Sydney takes the top spot. The remainder of the top five, in order, is London, San Francisco, Toronto, New York, and Hong Kong.

It's no surprise to see New York high on the list for men. Single women outnumber men by 230,000 in NYC, according to CityLab.

Men are more likely than women to have sex on a first date, especially if they live in NYC. New York was crowed “the most adventurous city” for guys, with 66% of NYC-based male respondants saying they're up for first-date fun. At 36%, London ladies are the most likely to say yes to sex on a first date.

When it comes to eligibility, most daters don't consider themselves “extremely eligible.” San Francisco and Sydney scoreas the top spots on that front, but the numbers are low. Only 28% of SF women and 29% of Sydney men believe they're “extremely eligible.” Come on, people – where's the self-esteem?

Men in London are the most willing to drop big bucks on a first date. The gents of England's capital said they’d spend £20 to £40 on a first date. In USD, that's about $30 to $62 – not the fanciest meal of your life, but certainly not the worst. Not that any of us are immune to the charms of a Chipotle date, either.

Across the board, most daters are looking for relationships. Only 12% said they're in the market for casual hookups, while 70% said they want a relationship and 11% said they're searching for their future spouse.

And finally, no matter how much we try to deny it, looks do matter. Both men and women listed “physical attraction” as the #1 trait they look for in a match.

The dating app market is flooded, so new companies entering the field and looking to make their mark have to differentiate themselves. For some app developers, it’s taking a female-centric approach, like with Bumble. Others look to social networking connections to make people feel more secure about meeting strangers, like Coffee Meets Bagel or Hinge.

The latest grab for online daters’ attention comes in the form of creating a dating app that is as exclusive as possible.

In other words, a new crop of apps are taking a completely different approach from acquiring the most users, like with Tinder. The success of an online dating company or app has always been evaluated by how large its database of users is. But these apps are banking on another measure of success - that is, how coveted the app is. They are driving demand for the app, and then being selective about who gets to use it.

Tired of Tinder and endless swiping that leads nowhere? While the dating app is popular, it’s leaving most online daters a little cold. Many come across fake profiles, or they match with someone only to have them disappear before actually meeting in person. And then there is the whole hook-up reputation.

So what is an online dater to do? New dating apps like The Grade and Bumble are setting out to alleviate online dating fatigue by putting their resources into creating more quality matches, so users can have a better overall experience. Specifically, these apps analyze and the behavior of their own members, so other users can see how they rate.

Bumble, founded by former Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe, aims to give power back to female daters. Bumble only allows the woman to reach out and make the first move – not the guy. So she is in control of the dating experience. A recent article in International Business Times revealed that a new feature Bumble will be rolling out is a verification program called “VIBee” -- a system that rewards users with a badge if they have good behavior on the app. The feature will aim to discourage users from nonstop swiping (left or right), and from spam messaging. If a match sees you have the badge, you’re more likely to be contacted – or so the thinking goes.

The Grade operates in a similar fashion, and as the name suggests – grades people on their behavior while using the app. The grading system is three-fold: you are "graded" based on how complete your profile is, how long it takes you to respond to messages, and the quality of the messages you send. In other words, the app will analyze message quality, including length, spelling mistakes, slang and hostile words and then assign you a letter grade, like in school. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really check context, so while some words might be “red flags” in certain contexts but not others, you could be penalized for using them at all.

Founders of The Grade pride themselves on the fact that they are weeding daters out based on how they behave. With about 100,000 downloads of The Grade so far, approximately 1,000 have been expelled and 2,000 are in danger of “failing.”

Cliff Lerner, founder of The Grade, told International Business Times: “We’re not saying we’re going to take on Tinder. We don’t want every user. All of our users are going to be high quality and accountable for their behavior. A lot of people will be kicked off.”

Lerner’s app focused on the complaints he kept hearing from female online daters, who were asking for an app that allowed them to handle offensive or hostile messages from men. Most women who have online dated have encountered such messages from time to time, which has created a huge trust problem with online dating apps and services.

Behavioral monitoring might be the next Tinder after all, at least for female daters.

The hack isn't the only bad press plaguing the Ashley Madison camp. Following the security breach, the leak of sensitive customer info, and a class action lawsuit, a former employee is now back in the news for claiming she was told to create hundreds of fake profiles for non-existent female “members.”

Doriana Silva, who worked at the company’s headquarters in Toronto, Canada, tried to sue the firm after claiming she suffered a repetitive strain injury after being told to input 1,000 counterfeit memberships in a short period of time.

According to court documents, Silva alleges that her job “entailed concocting phony profiles of alluring females and inputting these profiles into the appellants' online dating service in order to attract male subscribers.” She claims she was given only three weeks to create 1,000 fake profiles on Ashley Madison.

Her claim states that the purpose of the profiles is to “entice paying heterosexual male members to join and spend money on the website. They do not belong to any genuine members of Ashley Madison — or any real human beings at all." She also claims she was led to believe that the creation of fake profiles was considered a normal business practice in the industry.

Silva claimed £10 million in damages when she launched her case in 2012. Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison's parent company, counter-sued. The two sides agreed to drop their cases earlier this year, but the suit is back in the news following the big hack.

Online security experts have suggested Ashley Madison is perhaps guilty of further fraud. Some believe the company may have purchased bulk email addresses from marketing companies in order to create the impression that their user base is significantly larger than it really is.

A source involved in the FBI's investigation into the leak told The Daily Telegraph that inspections of the database suggest that a large number of the female profiles on Ashley Madison were in fact created by a relatively small number of individuals.

Ashley Madison says on its website that it cannot “guarantee the authenticity of any profile,” but it's hardly an uncommon phenomenon for an online dating site to artificially inflate its number of profiles to appear more attractive to new users. Ashley Madison may have taken publically available information from other databases to use on its site.

Alternatively, actual users may have stolen other people's email addresses to avoid giving their real name and contact info.

Either way, the news is ensuring Ashley Madison is hit even harder. Avid Life Media has scrapped plans to float on the London Stock Exchange and now faces serious legal action from those affected by the hack.