Dating Services

Brazil is heating up for singles, and not just because of its sunny weather.

Dating app Tinder is apparently a hot commodity among those taking part in the World Cup festivities. News site Quartz recently reported that Tinder has seen a 50% increase in downloads since the World Cup began last month.

Brazil is Tinder’s third-largest user base behind the US and the UK, and the app is available in Portuguese.

Hookup apps like Tinder and Grindr, which are popular around the world, allow users to swipe through pictures of potential matches that are geographically close to them, accepting or rejecting based on a few photos and a brief profile description. If two people select one another, they can start chatting and then take it from there. This simple process caters perfectly to short-time travelers looking for a fling.

First, we saw Tinder downloads spike during the Olympics, especially in Olympic Village where the athletes mingle with fellow athletes, fans watching the games or employees working the events. Now with the World Cup festivities drawing fans from all over the world to watch and celebrate the games, we’re seeing another significant spike in dating app downloads.

It seems dating apps are becoming more popular at major events that draw huge crowds. Tinder has become a popular tool for singles traveling during the summer to meet up with other singles, so it only makes sense that events like the World Cup would attract a lot of new users. Why not try something new when you’re in a foreign city with tons of people all around that you could meet?

The numbers also seem to favor women, especially local Brazilian women. Many men have come to Brazil not only to watch the World Cup, but to meet the stereotypical idea of the sexy, beautiful Brazilian woman. An unofficial poll suggested as many as 90% of the tourists are men.

Grindr, a popular app among the gay community, has also seen its numbers spike by 31% in Brazil since the World Cup began. Brazil is the sixth-largest market for Grindr.

An estimated 600,000 tourists from 186 countries are expected to visit Brazil during the World Cup, adding to the 3.1 million Brazilians who will be on the road for the championship. And as reported by Quartz, alcohol and hook-ups go hand in hand. Annual beer sales in the country are likely to rise 37%—bringing in about $816 million—during the month-long tournament.

For more on a popular dating app you can read our Tinder review.

Do you want your dates to be more intellectually stimulating? Do you get bored with conversations about where to eat or what movie to watch when you could be discussing political ideology or philosophy?

If the above describes you, and you prefer brains over beauty and boredom, then you might be interested in Match.com’s new partnership with the Mensa community. American Mensa and Match.com have teamed up to provide a dating experience exclusively for Mensa members, as well as provide all Match members access to some of the most intelligent people in the nation. 

According to Match.com, 80% of singles say they “must have” or find it “very important” to be with someone of the same intelligence level.  Additionally, 89% of singles would make a commitment to someone who was considerably better educated or more intellectual than themselves.

Because of the partnership, Match members will now have the ability to add a Mensa badge to their profiles to express their interest in the High IQ organization and will also have the opportunity to take the Mensa practice test for $1 at the Match.com Blog now through July 6, 2014.

While I’m not a fan of limiting your options when it comes to dating – everyone should meet a variety of people instead of just dating your type – it might be interesting to see how effective this partnership will be in creating lasting matches.

Match’s Chief Scientific Advisor Dr. Helen Fisher stated, “Why do we want a smart partner? Because intelligence is correlated with many benefits, including:  higher income; sense of humor; creativity; social skills; coordination; and problem solving. These are sexy.  Money can buy a sexy evening on the town. People everywhere gravitate to smart lovers, because an intelligent partner comes with a host of sexy perks.”

Daters with high IQs are not Match.com’s only focus. It was also recently announced that the company will be one of the first dating apps offered with Android Wearables; small, powerful devices worn on the body. So daters – there isn’t a need to constantly check your mobile device or computers. Instead, just look down at your wrist at your Wearable and check for messages, view and rate your daily matches, and find singles nearby. (Although I’m not really sure there’s much difference, since our phones are always in our hands anyway.)

Traditional online dating services are starting to branch out and appeal to new markets in order to remain relevant as new, trendy dating apps emerge. But Match.com seems to have a handle on its membership and continues to innovate. I’m curious to see what’s next.

I just notice that both SinglesNet.com and Kiss.com have been closed. Both redirect to Match.com.

In 2008 SinglesNet was one of the most popular dating services. In February 2010 Match.com acquired SinglesNet for an undisclosed sum. Since then it has been a slow sinking ship. Match.com didn't change much when they purchased the dating site and it suffered for it. Last summer SinglesNet was relaunched as Kiss.com and it didn't fair any better since as of March 21, 2014 both were closed permanently.

On a related note I also notice that FriendFinder Networks also closed Indian FriendFinder sometime in the last few months.

Most singles might agree: we’ve become Tinder-obsessed lately. It’s so easy to flip through photos, rejecting and accepting as many people as possible. It’s become a bit of a sport, or an old game of hot-or-not.

Needless to say, while some people have found true love over apps like Tinder, the majority are still finding it hard to meet people and go on a real date. There seems to be too much choice, too many options for meeting new people. Few daters are focusing on finding a relationship or even dating one person because there are so many options out there.

Studies have shown that people are not great at dealing with too many options. In scientific terms, they become "cognitively overwhelmed." In other words, the more men or women there are to choose from, the harder it can be to pick just one. Kind of like going to a grocery store and choosing from 100 different types of chocolate. How do you really make a good decision about what to purchase?

Fortunately, a new crop of dating apps are addressing this dilemma by trying to give singles what they really want – a more manageable way to date, rather than more options.

CoffeeMeetsBagel is one such app, offering its members one match per day (every day at noon), and you have twenty-four hours to decide if this person is right for you. Matches are chosen based on your Facebook networks, so they are also on better behavior than those you could meet over Tinder and who have no accountability.

Hinge is another such app, offering anywhere from seven to fifteen matches per day to its users, depending on how many Facebook friends you invite to join. It works kind of like a referral service, but since you only get a limited number of matches, you have time to really consider your options and likely accept more dates. Plus, you have to have a friend on Hinge to be able to join, and both your first and last name are visible to your matches. So again, there is some accountability because of your Facebook networks – bad behavior isn’t going to be easily forgotten.

This less-is-more strategy also helps daters in terms of communication. Guys aren’t cutting-and-pasting mass emails to send to as many women as possible on the more selective apps, nor are women receiving many unwanted sexual advances from random guys. It is more of a formal approach, and one that is slow and deliberate.

Are apps like Hinge or CoffeeMeetsBagel for everyone? Maybe not, but if you’re a guy looking to meet women, these are the apps females are more likely to check out and join.

 

Everyone is looking for the next big app – specifically one that does something new and creative and captures people’s attention with a new type of communication, like Vine, Snapchat or Twitter have done. Dating apps are following suit - trying to engage a larger audience than just singles looking for dates - by creating a new type of experience. People are looking to their phones to connect – whether it’s friendship, hooking up, dating, or finding a relationship. So why not take advantage of the technology and see what clicks?

Many apps are leaning towards features that are more ephemeral in nature. People don’t want their comments and photos lingering on the Internet forever, so the appeal of showing and telling without the repercussions seems intriguing. After all, if what you say or do disappears in a few minutes or even seconds, wouldn’t you be more willing to try something new, maybe even more daring than in your real life?

Dating app Skout thinks so. Skout has been around for a while, and helps strangers meet locally based on GPS-matching much like many other dating apps. While it doesn’t have the popularity and user base of Tinder or the cache of Match.com, Skout is looking for new and innovative ways to capture more downloads and engage more people to help them connect. And the company (and its investors) are betting on a new messaging app called Fuze.

Fuze is a combination of group messaging and ephermerality like Snapchat. Once someone starts a “Fuse,” everyone else has three to ten minutes to respond. Once the timer goes off, all of the content inside the Fuse disappears and no one can ever see it again. So it creates a bit of pressure for people to engage right away or risk not getting a chance to speak.

The app also allows you to post anonymously, in what’s called “Ghost Mode.” While this seems to be a popular feature among apps, I can’t help but think that being anonymous means you say things that you wouldn’t normally say to others face-to-face, and creates more of a barrier to getting to know others than bringing them together.

Skout’s CEO Christian Wiklund says, “It’s almost like a dinner conversation. It’s contextual, based on who is around you right now. If the Fuse burns out, you can go onto the next conversation.”

Wiklund also says they launched Fuse separately so that Skout could be left clean, and not bogged down with a bunch of new features. They do however plan to promote Fuse through the Skout network.

There’s no denying that family has a major impact on who and what we turn out to be. But exactly how big is that impact?

The research team PlentyOfFish set out to understand how your family affects your likelihood of reaching financial and personal success. The study examined the correlation between birth order and long-term relationships, income brackets, and education level. It also looked at the relationship between birth order and hair color, pets, and body type.

The participants in the study were North American singles, both men and women, between the ages of 25 and 45 who are from families of up to six children. All had created a PlentyOfFish profile since 2013, but were a mix of current users and those who had since deleted their accounts.

The study found that firstborns are more likely to experience multiple advantages in life. In comparison to their younger siblings, firstborns are more likely to find a relationship, pursue higher education, and make between $100k and $150k a year. Although the findings differed depending on the number of children in the family, firstborn children consistently came out on top. Fun fact: the eldest of two is also up to 8% more likely to be a redhead.

Middle children across the board are the least likely to find a relationship. On the other hand, they are more likely to make between $100k and $150k a year than their younger siblings. They are also, apparently, 20% more likely to own a bird as a pet.

Youngest children are the most likely to be looking for a relationship. The youngest of two is up to 15% more likely to be blonde and 9% more likely to own an iPhone. Youngest male children are 10% more likely to be thin, while the youngest female child of two is 9% more likely to be athletic and 7% more likely to be thin. The youngest in the family, regardless of gender, is also most likely to own a cat or a dog.

Single children are 9% more likely to be very ambitious and 15% more likely to be seeking a casual relationship. There are also 16% more likely to be overweight, 9% more likely to use an Android device, and up to 19% more likely to have black hair.

Moral of the story: birth order does have a connection to the direction your life takes, and it pays big to be the first born.