General News

There's something magical about springtime. After a winter of hibernation, everyone is ready throw on shorts and venture outside for the first time in three months, blinking and stumbling into the light like survivors of a disaster movie.

Unless, like me, you live in New York City and spent your first day of spring cowering under a blanket, watching snow fall outside your window and cursing the weather gods. It's not all shorts and sundresses yet, but come May sunbathing in Central Park will feel that much more glorious.

For those of you who didn't just get pummeled by snow, the flowers are blooming and so is romance. New data from Zoosk suggests that online dating rates go up in spring, meaning “spring fever” might be a very real thing.

Zoosk's data scientists analyzed 9.6 million conversations, over 850,000 signups, and over 66 million member sessions in search of scientific evidence for spring fever. Is it real? Is it possible to quantify the condition? Do people date differently in spring compared to other seasons?

By comparing the data of Zoosk members from the first two weeks of spring to the data from a month prior, Zoosk claims to have found “conclusive evidence” that spring fever is indeed a real phenomenon.

It began with messages. Zoosk reports that 34% more first messages are sent daily during springtime. After months of online food orders and Netflix being our only companions, it appears spring brings out our desire to connect with other humans again. And it's not just about quantity. The messages sent during spring are also “deeper” - meaning that each user in the conversation sends at least two messages. 28% more messages started daily in spring meet the criteria.

Of course, in order to get to the talking part, people have to sign up in the first place. And they do. Zoosk discovered an 11% increase in daily registrations in spring.

It makes perfect sense when you stop to think about it. This is, after all, the season during which most of Mother Nature's creatures feel a little extra frisky. And it's much easier to find the motivation to dress up and go out when you don't run the risk of developing frostbite by doing so. Not to mention that the mind is much more inclined to wander when you're looking at short sleeves and skirts, rather than knee-length down coats, clunky snow boots, and balaclavas. Dress it up all you want, but “bank robber” is never a good look.

Think you’ll have a better chance of meeting a new love through friends rather than Tinder? According to a recent survey by website Mic, you’re probably right.

Mic, a news website catering specifically to Millennials, decided to get to the bottom of dating apps and online dating to figure out how people in relationships are actually meeting. As it turns out, for all the buzz of Tinder – (and good news for the online-dating averse) – more couples have met through friends, work and in real-life social situations as opposed to over the Internet.

Mic surveyed more than 2,300 people between 18 and 34 years old, and it turns out, the vast majority of them – almost 39% - met their SOs through mutual friends, despite being part of the Tinder/ dating app generation. The next largest group – 22% of respondents - met through real-life social situations, such as at parties or bars. Eighteen percent met at work. When it comes to online dating, less than 10% of respondents met this way, and less than six percent met through social media. (Although to be fair to social media, this is quite extraordinary, considering it hasn’t been around nearly as long as online dating has.)

The latest Pew study reveals that online dating is gaining acceptance among the masses - 59% of Americans now believe that this is a good way to meet someone. But apparently, the majority of folks still aren’t meeting their next relationships that way.

There is a reason most people still prefer to meet through friends. Having the endorsement of someone you like and trust goes a long way, especially in the dating market where bad behavior is part of the experience. It’s like a little insurance policy against meeting someone – a total stranger - who might end up being hurtful or even dangerous.

This is evident in the dating app world, where meeting strangers online is commonplace. However, the fact that most apps have some type of verification through social media – for instance, requiring users to have a legitimate Facebook profile before being able to use the app – shows that there is a desire for validation before agreeing to a date. Some apps have taken this process a step further, connecting people online only through mutual social media friends (as with Hinge), or being an invitation-only app, such as with The League.

So what does this mean for the next generation of online daters? Dating apps and online dating are definitely here to stay – but it looks like the technology will keep gravitating towards mutual connections, either through social media or in real life.

The most successful dating apps are based on visuals, and typically pull your photos from Facebook to create your dating “profile.” This allows potential dates to swipe left and right, rejecting or showing interest – depending almost entirely on the photos you have posted.

Now dating app Glimpse takes things one step further. Acknowledging the power of visuals, the new app uses your Instagram account to help you find matches. That is, Glimpse reveals photos you have taken on Instagram to potential matches, so they can get an idea of your interests, who you are, and what you like.

Instagram seems like a natural fit for online dating, but Glimpse is not the first to make a dating app using visual social media platforms. Take dating app Dreamcliq, launched a couple of years ago to little fanfare, which allows you to create a “vision board” of your interests to attract potential dates - matching according to photo-based profiles. The company marketed the app as being inspired by Pinterest.

There are some challenges with Glimpse. First, if your Instagram is full of selfies, it might be a turn-off for your dates. There are only so many duck faces potential mates can handle. Same thing if you like taking pictures of your food, or your puppy, or even your hiking landscapes – a few artful photographs are great, but sometimes it's too much. Also, what does an extensive photo collection tell you about the person taking the photo, other than they like their dogs, hikes, or crème brulee?

Unlike apps like Tinder, Glimpse doesn’t match based on location, but rather through your hashtags, events, locations and other similarities on Instagram. So, let’s say you include #sunsets or #foodporn tags in a few photos – you’ll be matched with singles in your area who used the same trending phrases. Or, you could be matched with someone you met last month at a party during your work conference. In other words, there seems to be a little more flexibility as well as common interests than a typical dating app. Plus, it gives you a starting point for conversation – something that is missing with Tinder.

Another advantage of Glimpse is that you can advertise yourself through visuals – but instead of worrying about how great your hair looks or whether or not you look big in a certain dress, the app lets you tell a story of who you are through your photos.

Glimpse launched in February and is available on iTunes, but by invitation only.

Are you excited about the new Tinder Plus service that has rolled out in the U.S.? Don't get too carried away – turns out, if you’re 30 or older, you’ll have to pay more than your younger single counterparts.

Tinder is charging users of its premium service only $9.99 if they are under 30, but those 30 and older have to pay $19.99 per month for the same service. In the U.K., the pay gap is even larger.

Tinder has been testing pricing and features of Tinder Plus in various markets prior to its U.S. roll out, which is expected to happen in late March. Reports have been mixed – while Tinder claims that its users have responded favorably to the premium service and its features (as well as pricing), the app’s ratings have declined in the U.K. app store thanks to several harsh reviews.

The success of the new service is important to Tinder, who has yet to capitalize on the sheer number of users of the free service. The company has struggled to come up with viable revenue streams that don’t take away from the user experience (they have tried to avoid in-app advertising), in order to maintain their growing user base. Offering a tiered premium service like Tinder Plus seems the best answer, adding some popular features based on users’ requests - such as the ability to go back and see rejected profiles, or to meet matches in different cities.

But along with these improvements, there are reports that Tinder is placing limits on the number of swipes any user can do per day for the free service (which sparked outrage in the U.K. app stores), prompting users to buy the premium service if they want to continue swiping.

And the latest controversy appears to be age discrimination. In a statement to defend its unusual pricing technique, Tinder said this to NPR: "Over the past few months, we've tested Tinder Plus extensively in several countries…Lots of products offer differentiated price tiers by age, like Spotify does for students, for example. Tinder is no different; during our testing we've learned, not surprisingly, that younger users are just as excited about Tinder Plus but are more budget constrained and need a lower price to pull the trigger." 

Not everyone is buying Tinder’s explanation. As website Engadget pointed out, this “sleazy” move by Tinder will likely cause more people to lie about their ages on Facebook.

The real test will has come now since Tinder Plus made its U.S. debut this month. Perhaps this is the move that will make room for other competitors in the crowded dating app market.

For five years, Match.com has graced us with America’s most comprehensive study on singles. For this year's Singles In America study, Match surveyed over 5,600 singles of all ages, ethnicities, incomes and walks of life. Naturally, the impact of technology on our dating habits was a major topic of discussion this year.

60% of singles spend at least 1 hour a day on social media. 39% of singles’ daily conversations happen digitally. Now that we're more connected than ever, our online activity has a greater impact on our love lives than ever before. And that means some serious etiquette issues. Let's talk do's and don'ts.

Single men have the following advice for single ladies:

• DO: send photos, send sexy texts, use emoticons, check your spelling and grammar
• DON'T: text more than once before a reply, text during work hours, use netspeak (OMG, LOL, etc), use ALL CAPS

Single ladies have this advice for single men:

• DO: send photos, use emoticons, text netspeak, check your spelling and grammar
• DON'T: send sexy photos, text more than once before a reply, send sexy texts, ask too many personal questions

Unsurprisingly, selfies were huge this year. Women take slightly more, but not by much. Reasons for taking a selfie range from “to capture a moment” (65%), to “to show off where they're at/what they're doing (41%), to “to show off a good hair day or outfit (31%). A majority of people think the most attractive selfies are natural and unenhanced.

On Instagram, single women favor certain kinds of photos. Funny pictures and shots of traveling or landscapes rank highest, followed by pictures of a date's hobbies and pictures of animals. When it comes to those infamous filtered photos of food, men and women are divided. 25% of single women think food pics are a turn on, but only 19% of men agree.

On other social networks, men and women agree that liking a photo is one of the top ways to show interest (38% of men vs 39% of women). Commenting on a photo is also a strong indicator (34% of men vs 31% of women). What you absolutely shouldn't do, on the other hand, is air your emotional drama in posts, take excessive selfies, or ask a date to unfriend their exes.

And here's a fun fact: 54% of emoji-using singles had sex in 2014, compared to only 31% of non-emoji users. Food for thought.

For more information on this dating service you can read our Match.com review.

Remember how you thought filling out your online dating profile was a giant pain in the you-know-what? Now imagine creating an entire online dating site – just for yourself.

That's what one very dedicated dater from New York did. Meet Brandon Scott Wolf, the Brooklyn-based bartender and comedian behind DateBrandonScottWolf.com.

Visitors to the page are greeted by one of the best taglines you're likely to see anywhere: “The #1 Online Dating Site for Brandon Scott Wolf.” So he's funny and self-aware – two things women are definitely looking for in a date. Check them off the list.

Up next is a video in which BSW explains more about himself, what he's looking for, and the origins of the site. He's a college-educated, 25-yr-old bartender who was frustrated by the sheer enormity of the online dating world. With so many profiles on a single site, how could anyone possibly choose? His solution to the problem is ingenious.

Let's say you're intrigued by the prospect of dating Mr. Brandon Scott Wolf. What happens next?

He says he's looking for an easy-going, honest woman who can make him laugh. He's open to casual dating, according to his profile (aka, the only profile) on the site. However, he would “prefer to meet someone who wants to get into a more serious relationship” which, he notes, means “being able to lay on a couch together while wearing pajamas and watching Bob’s Burgers.”

If you fit the bill, submit a recent photo and take a free online personality test. Filling out your own profile is a predictably funny experience. Check out the options for age, gender, religion, and sexual preference. What's your favorite book? You're out of luck if it doesn't come from the Harry Potter series. Your favorite date? Hopefully you like pie. A favorite animal? It'd better be a bird or you're screwed.

Assuming you meet all the criteria, what happens next? A date. Probably in a diner, over a slice of pie. And if the two of you click, BSW says to expect plenty of “hand holding, homemade pasta dinners, and having someone who actually listens.”

All of this begs one question: if Wolf is a comedian, is all of this a joke?

"People have asked me, 'Are you serious? Is this a joke?' And my only response is, 'I'm not even sure,'" he told Mashable. "There's a part of me that's hoping someone is going to get this 100%, and won't catfish me, and then I'll ask them out on a date."