General News

Aaron Schildkrout and his friend Brian Schechter founded HowAboutWe four years ago as an alternative to traditional online dating. In a recent article in The New York Observer, he said that the fundamental problem with online dating sites was that they needed to keep subscribers. The sites work best when people are looking for dates, not when they are in relationships and dropping out. Dating sites depend on a huge database of subscribers.

HowAboutWe’s focus is a bit different for an online dating site. For one, they have branched out from their online dating platform to creating a valuable resource for all people interested in dating and relationships.

The primary goal of their dating site is to help people meet offline (and get them there as quickly as possible), so they can move towards forming relationships. Instead of searching through profiles, members can create an idea for a first date, put it out to the network, and see who’s interested. Schildkrout says it’s a way for people to meet more organically.

Because of the site’s focus on date activities, it was a natural progression to create a site for couples who are looking to be inspired. Many couples are bored with the same old dates they do all the time, but don’t have the time to research or a lot of money to do something more unique. This is where HowAboutWe comes in – they curate dates particular to each city they service, and set the whole thing up for a discounted price.

It’s an appealing idea for couples. As Schildkrout says, “We make the booking process and the reservation process extremely easy — you never have to show a voucher, your name’s already on the list. We do all the work for you. We take care of all the details.”

The company is also getting into media content, acquiring sites like The Date Report and Nerve.com and creating two additional new blogs related to dating and relationships. “We built out a world-class editorial team,” says Shildkrout, “and for the last three months, we’ve been working really hard to create a media wing focused on becoming the authoritative voice on all things love, and have grown traffic dramatically in that process.”

Popular apps like Tinder and the bigger or more traditional dating sites like OkCupid don’t seem to bother Shildkrout. He sees Tinder as more of a lightweight hook-up experience and OkCupid as an algorithm-matching experience which might not match you with someone outside your type. He is focused on his product, on connecting people in a real-world way. And he’s looking to build content that gets a conversation started. 

Is a company that's only 20 months old and has no revenue model really worth $5 billion? Spoiler alert: no.

IAC/InterActiveCorp recently bought back 10% of mobile dating service Tinder. Although it's easily the hottest mobile dating app on the market, it’s hard not to approach Tinder with a healthy dose of skepticism. $5 billion is, to put it bluntly, a completely insane number for such a young company.

According to the market research company IBISWorld, the entire online dating industry is worth just $2 billion. How on earth could a company that gives away its dating app for free be worth more than the entire dating industry? The answer is simple: it can't.

The number, first reported by Bloomberg and quickly picked up elsewhere, was based on the $500 million IAC had allegedly paid to buy a 10% stake in Tinder from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, but it's far from accurate. Sam Yagan, CEO of IAC’s Match Group (which includes IAC’s online dating companies) recently confirmed that a deal was made, but declined to comment further.

“I can confirm on the record that we did a transaction with Chamath, but this valuation is nowhere near the truth,” he told Forbes. Tinder CEO Sean Rad added that the Bloomberg report was “meaningfully incorrect.” Forbes found that an e-mail to Palihapitiya did not receive an immediate response, but noted that his statement on Twitter read “My Tinder sale for $500M is inaccurate. I sold my stake but value was much less. Thx @samyagan for official IAC pos’n. #wishfulthinking”

That being said, it's far too early to write Tinder off as worthless. Just because it has no revenue model to speak of to date, doesn't mean it has no value to investors. With 10 million active daily users, Tinder is fundamentally changing the way a massive number of people behave and engage with each other. That's bound to be worth something.

“Tinder’s really doing something that has been the Holy Grail for online dating: it becomes fun,” says Mark Brooks, a consultant to the Internet dating industry. Unlike traditional dating sites, surfing profiles on Tinder is fun, low risk, and not time-consuming. Users don't have to fill out tedious surveys and the swiping process practically eliminates the fear of rejection. Thanks to Tinder, mobile dating is exciting and mainstream, a major coup that the rest of the dating industry has never been able to figure out.

“IAC’s not valuing Tinder based on what it’s worth,” Brooks notes. “They’re valuing it based on what they’ll lose if they don’t own it. If Tinder can own mobile and own the younger demographic, then IAC is owning the future with Tinder. It’s an international phenomenon.”

Kids these days. What crazy shenanigans will they come up with next?

The latest word is that online dating may be on its way out – and that even includes explosively popular mobile apps like Tinder – and that social networks may be on their way in.

“But wait a minute,” you say, “weren’t social networks always in?” Of course they were, but it's only now that people are starting to appreciate them for their full romantic potential. And it may surprise you to know that the social network leading the dating charge isn't Facebook or Twitter – it's Instagram.

Elizabeth Wisdom and Dennis Lafargue, a now-engaged and now Internet famous couple, met using the photo sharing service and documented their courtship on the app. They started out trading flirty comments, then moved on to swapping numbers, and even involved their Instagram accounts in their engagement. When Lafargue made their relationship official, he called Wisdom his “instalady” (not entirely sure if that's cringeworthy or cute). Together, they officially declared that “Instagram is the new Match.com.”

It's one thing for a happy couple to document moments of their lives on Instagram, but Wisdom and Lafargue took it to a whole new level. Lafargue prepared a timeline of their relationship via Instagram photos, combining both their moments together as well as their own separate, first moments using the app. It was a fitting tribute to the service that brought them together in the first place.

For those of us who aren't so involved in sharing our every moment with Instagram followers, it sounds a little crazy, but Wisdom and Lafargue are far from the only couple to tell this story. Even celebrities are getting in on the game, like iCarly actress Jennette McCurdy, who connected with NBA star Andre Drummond using social networks.

“I backtracked on his Twitter page a few months and checked out his Instagram,” she wrote in an op-ed. “He appeared personable, youthful, and fun. And judging by the amount of me-related posts he had shared, it seemed he had been expressing his crush on me for quite some time. I found it sweet, gutsy, and flattering. It’s hard not to be impressed by a boy who will express his feelings for you in front of hundreds of thousands of people.” The relationship didn't work out, but while it lasted the two documented their time together on Instagram (of course).

There isn't yet any research to determine whether Insta-dating is just as effective as traditional online dating, but no research is needed to prove it's a real trend. And given that more and more young people are abandoning Facebook and Twitter in favour of Instagram, it sounds like it stands a real chance of becoming the next big thing.

Why are we so attached to our smartphones? And why has mobile dating become the greatest thing since sliced bread (and online dating)?

Psychologists think they have the answer.

Mobile dating apps are not soaring in popularity because they offer an easy way to meet potential love interests, but because they replicate ‘real world’ dating experiences better than traditional online dating sites. Apps like Tinder and Grindr allow users to scroll through pictures of potential dates (or less) in nearby locations, and then chat with members who show interest in their profiles. That focus on the first impression – especially of a user's physical appearance – mimics people's real-life, instinctive impulses much better than traditional online dating sites.

That's not to say that photos aren’t important on traditional dating sites, because of course they are. And of course people make snap judgments based on physical appearance. All the time. But most online dating sites ask members to create detailed profiles outlining their personal attributes and preferences in a partner, in order to match them with potentially compatible dates. The emphasis is on something deeper and more serious, an attitude that's reinforced by the increased time commitment required to use a traditional online dating site.

Some psychologists now argue that mobile dating is a much more social experience that can lead to more "serendipitous" meetings. In the long run, they say, the mobile dating approach may be more romantic than being matched by a scientific dating website algorithm.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of psychology at University College London, told The Times: "[Using a dating website] is almost like booking a holiday or a job application, as you try to customize your partners. Mobile dating – and Tinder is a good example – is different. It is more linked to impulse and emotions and focuses on attractiveness and looks, which is more realistic, even if it is a bit more lazy. It replicates the traditional version of dating more closely than Match.com or eHarmony as it allows for more serendipity."

Graham Jones, an internet psychologist said: "Mobile dating apps are a more sociable activity that you can use with friends down the pub rather than sitting at home on your laptop on a dating website."

The tendency is to overestimate the impact of technology on human behavior. In reality, it is usually human behavior that drives technological changes and is responsible for their success or failure. Mobile dating apps like Tinder and Grindr are an extension of mainstream, real-world dating habits – even more so than traditional online dating sites.

This breakup is so big, it’s shaking up the entire online dating industry.

It's not the kind of breakup makes you want to curl up on the couch in your pajamas with a sappy movie and a pint of ice cream. This kind of breakup involves two of the biggest forces on the Internet: Mozilla Firefox and OkCupid.

It all started when OkCupid members using Mozilla’s Firefox web browser attempted to access the site and were greeted with this message:

“Hello there, Mozilla Firefox user. Pardon this interruption of your OkCupid experience. Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples. We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid.”

It’s not every day you see a dating site take a dive into politics, but OkCupid has never been one to follow the herd. Here's the back story: at the end of March, Mozilla named its cofounder and former Chief Technology Officer, Brendan Eich, to the position of CEO following the resignation of Gary Kovacs last April. Eich’s opposition to same-sex marriage has been public knowledge since 2012, when it was revealed that he donated to California’s 2008 Proposition 8 campaign that sought to ban gay marriage.

When the news hit that Eich had been promoted, all hell broke loose. The backlash was swift on Twitter. Three Mozilla board members quit. And OkCupid decided to brave political waters and take a stand.

“We’ve devoted the last ten years to bringing people—all people—together,” OkCupid’s missive continued. “If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8% of the relationships we’ve worked so hard to bring about would be illegal. Equality for gay relationships is personally important to many of us here at OkCupid. But it’s professionally important to the entire company.”

At least one other company, the app developer Rarebit, has followed suit. Boycotting Firefox is no small statement, as it is the world's second most popular web browser on personal computers and is responsible for about 12% of OkCupid’s 3 billion monthly page views.

The anti-Mozilla landing page is now gone from OkCupid, but the site told CNET that it plans to release another statement at some point in the near future.

As for Eich, he told CNET that "[w]ithout getting into my personal beliefs, which I separate from my Mozilla work -- when people learned of the donation, they felt pain. I saw that in friends' eyes, [friends] who are LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender]. I saw that in 2012. I am sorry for causing that pain."

Whether or not you believe in the sincerity of his statement, the damage is done: Eich resigned in the wake of the controversy. 

Have you ever been on a first date with someone you didn’t know – who you’d never seen before? Even in an online dating photo?

If you said no, you’re in good company. According to a recent survey by Dating Advice, over half of Americans – 57% - have never been on a blind date. As it turns out, there is no real gender difference among respondents either – 58% of women have never been on a blind date compared to 56% of men.

Interestingly, singles who have never been married were also among the most likely to have never been on a blind date – about 70% total. Compared to their married counterparts at 50% and divorced respondents at 48%, they don’t appear to be so open to the idea.

Also, 80% of young people ages 18-24 have never been on a blind date compared to senior respondents. Among those 64 and older, only 42% had never been on a blind date.

There is a bit of a gap when it comes to sexual preference. Fifty-six percent of straight people surveyed have never been on a blind date compared to only 49% of gay respondents. And Latinos were the least likely ethnic group to have been on a blind date, with 70% admitting they hadn’t.

What does all this mean? Are blind dates considered a thing of the past, or is there a reason singles aren’t really interested in them anymore?

Blind dates might seem like an old-fashioned idea with all the dating apps and websites that people have to choose from. But they also require us to be on our best behavior – after all, word could get back to your friend or family member who set you up if you’re disrespectful or you neglect to call. It adds a level of safety and accountability to a date that online and mobile dating don’t provide.

Then again, if you’re not attracted to your blind date, it might be a little harder to explain to your friends or Aunt Mary just why you don’t want a second date.

So should we be more open to the idea of a blind date? In the same way that we have adapted to a dating culture that uses mobile apps and websites to find love, this is yet another avenue. And while it might take more time to set up and promises little return unless you hit it off, it’s worth a try.

When it comes to dating, if you’re not exploring your options, you might be wasting some good opportunities.