Types (Niche)

Woman Tearing Down OkCupid Ad

Image: Twitter

Dating app OkCupid has responded to a viral video showing a woman tearing down posters of its new LGBTQ+ ad campaign “Every Single Person” from a subway train in New York. Two other passengers joined her in the effort, and one filmed and posted the rant.

The notably unmasked woman was reacting to the campaign’s bold images, featuring queer people, pansexuality, and people who identify as non-binary. As she tore down the signs, she claimed to be concerned about children seeing the images, saying that the ads were “affecting the next generation” and calling them “propaganda.”

She also called the images “disgusting” and said that it’s “not about equality, you guys…it’s about communism” with no additional context.

WooPlus Facebook Login Issues

Members of dating app WooPlus who use Facebook logins to access their accounts recently got shut out, creating a huge problem the company wasn’t able to address in a timely manner. As a result, WooPlus is considering ditching Facebook altogether from its login options.

Almost 1.5 million members of the popular dating app for curvy people weren’t able to login to their accounts via Facebook, a typical way for dating app platforms to be able to verify members. The company said that Facebook had failed to notify them in advance that they planned to lock out these users and didn’t offer a reasonable explanation for doing so.

Some WooPlus members said that they were forced to set up new accounts without using Facebook to login to the app, but that they weren’t able to access any of their old account information, messages or matches, causing even more frustration. Others said this wasn’t the first time Facebook booted them out.

The FTC in mid-September issued a statement urging people using LGBTQ+ dating apps to be cautious amid the growing number of scammers who operate on these apps.

Apps like Grindr and Feeld were named in particular as the FTC warned of an increasing number of scammers who seek explicit photos and then use them to extort money. According to Consumer Reports, the attackers pose as interested romantic partners and chat with intended victims. These scammers send explicit photos quickly, seeing who responds with a similar photo in return.

The next part plays out like an episode of Black Mirror, where if the victim does send an explicit photo in hopes of connecting in person, the attacker quickly turns on them and uses blackmail to extort money. The attackers threaten to send the photo to the victim’s personal networks, including family and friends or even an employer unless they pay (usually via gift card). 

Dating App Tinder launched its new Tinder Explore section, where users can find a more interactive matching experience that is focused on events and areas of interest where users can make connections.

According to Tech Crunch, the new section will offer an events space that includes Swipe Night, its popular interactive series where users can watch and strike up conversations, and “Hot Takes,” the app’s virtual speed dating experience. Swipe Night returns to the platform for a second season later this year, featuring a who-dunnit style mystery. This time, the series will include a “Fast Chat” feature where users can interact with each other without having to match as they watch the story unfold together. 

Tinder’s Hot Takes feature will also be housed in Tinder Explore, where users can start chatting with anyone who’s there. As a timer appears, they will be given a limited time to decide whether to match before their chat expires and they are sent to the next potential match. This feature was tested earlier this year for limited periods of time, and the company says millions have used it so far.

Shares for dating conglomerate Match Group soared in early September, following the company’s new listing to the S&P 500. As of September 20th, Match Group will replace Perrigo Company, according to an announcement by the Dow Jones Indices.

Stocks tend to rise after being added to the S&P 500, as they become a “must-buy” for index funds, which track stocks on the benchmark index. Shares of Match Group are up more than 50 percent since this time last year with after-hour gains according to CNBC. This is more than a year after the separation from its former parent company IAC in July of 2020.

News of the Match Group’s rising share price also follows Apple’s announcement that it will relax its app store rules, which Match Group, Spotify and a number of other companies have been fighting for over a year. Apple agreed that the companies can provide a link to their websites from the apps for users to sign up for subscriptions, allowing the developer to bypass Apple’s cut, which was anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of sales. 

The Vatican and Catholic Churches in the U.S. are bracing for more of its clergy members to be outed for using gay dating app Grindr.

The Pillar published a report that based on “legally obtained” data there seem to be “at least 16 mobile devices [that] emitted signals from the hookup app Grindr on at least four days between March to October 2018 within the non-public areas of the Vatican City State, while 16 other devices showed use of other location-based hookup or dating apps, both heterosexual and homosexual, on four or more days in the same time period.”

The Pillar maintains that this information was obtained through commercially available app signal data, not through hacking, and that it pulled data from rectories and other clerical housing from 2018 through 2020.