Profiles

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder is rolling out another interactive feature for its Explore section. According to the company’s blog post, Fast Chat: Blind Date will allow users to chat without being able to see each other’s photos, so they focus on personality instead of image. 

When users opt in to the Blind Date feature, they are asked to complete a series of questions, and are paired with others based on similar responses. The questions are meant to spark conversation in an ice-breaker style, like “I put ketchup on___.” The two daters then start a timed chat in which they receive the responses as prompts, so they can have a little fun with awkward first conversations. 

When the chat time ends, they can like the other person’s profile and if they both match they can see each other’s photos and continue talking or messaging, according to the company's blog. 

After receiving numerous complaints from their users, dating apps in South Korea are cracking down on users who mask up in their profiles in an attempt to hide their faces.

According to The Korean Herald, this practice has become known as “magikkun,” from the English word “mask” and the Korean word “sagikkun,” which means fraud. People who use masks in their profile photos are assumed to be deceiving potential matches, because they are hiding what they look like in real life. 

Some users are avoiding swiping right on masked-up profiles altogether, where others use video chat or request a selfie from the user before agreeing to meet them in person.

Several of Japan’s largest companies have turned to an AI dating app to help their employees find love during the pandemic.

According to Kyodo News, about 800 companies have signed up to offer the app Aill goen to employees, with the aim that they will be happier and more productive workers if they are in a good relationship. Companies are also hoping the dating app will provide a way to help employees who might be struggling with their mental health, since they have been unable to physically interact with others because of lockdowns.

The pool of matches will be limited only to participating company employees, providing a level of safety and accountability for users of the app. Aill goen is being offered to employees as part of their benefits package at work, according to Kyodo News. 

Gay dating apps are leading the way when it comes to encouraging users to disclose their STI status when they use dating apps, according to public health experts. 

Health disclosures on dating apps have taken on new importance since the pandemic took hold, with more users asking potential matches about their vaccination and infection status before agreeing to meet in person. Because of the recent urgency and importance in keeping each other safe from Covid-19, and the rising cases of STIs, mainstream dating apps like Tinder and Bumble are now looking for effective ways of encouraging users to disclose their sexual health status, too. 

Gay dating apps have long been ahead of the curve on this, encouraging users to disclose their STI status up front in the name of public health, according to the National Post.

Gay dating app Grindr was fined $7.16 million (65 million kroner) by Norway’s Internet watchdog agency for violating the privacy rights of its users.

According to ABC News, The Norwegian Data Protection Authority said that Grindr had shared the sensitive personal data of its users, including sexual orientation, to hundreds of potential advertising partners without their consent. 

It’s not the first time Grindr has been accused of violating privacy rights by the watchdog. In 2020, it filed a complaint against Grindr not only because of sensitive data that was shared with third parties, but also because it shared IP addresses and GPS locations, which could identify individual users. 

Dating app Bumble is changing the look of profiles and giving an upgrade to its algorithm to provide a better online dating experience for its users.

The female-focused dating app unveiled its new look in early December. The update prioritizes a person’s pronouns and interests after their primary photo, and according to Axios Austin, this move will help users more easily identify potential matches.

The algorithm changes are aimed at creating a more curated experience. The app will now provide users with recommendations for which picture should be front and center in your profile, which the company said from early reports has already led to more matches. Bumble’s AI technology is also learning more preferences based on user behavior, noting that curating matches this way has helped people spend more time looking at each profile, an indication of heightened interest among users.