Romance

In February, the FBI issued an alert about the increase in online dating scams, noting that dating app users were cheated out of about $1 billion in 2021 alone. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said reports of romance-led scams increased 80 percent during the same time. 

The FBI also received more than 25,000 reports of dating app-related fraud in 2021, according to USA Today.

The Netflix documentary about the Tinder Swindler has brought attention to the intricate methods that scammers use to romance people and lure them to give money or share sensitive information like a passport or banking information. In the case of the Swindler, he used money from other victims to fund his lavish lifestyle and move on to his next target. (Hint: if someone who wants to fly you on a private jet also asks you for $25,000, you should be suspicious!) 

Tinder India has created and released a new film for its users about consent and what it looks like in modern-day dating culture. The purpose of the new film Closure is to spark conversation among daters and to help them create healthy boundaries. 

According to Business Insider India, the film centers around a young woman named Ria and her estranged ex-boyfriend Ved. The film starts with the two of them meeting on a beach and flashes forward through their budding romantic relationship. Then the movie cuts to a disturbed Ria and confused Ved sitting across from each other after some time has passed, having a difficult conversation about what drove them apart. We soon learn that Ved didn’t ask for her consent on their last night together. “You didn’t say no,” he insists, where Ria says “but I also didn’t say yes. I wish for once, you had asked.”

Ved later asked if she was seeing anyone, and it flashes to her budding new relationship with a man who does the things she longed for Ved to do – he asks permission before he kisses her or holds her hand. She also exercises more power in this new relationship by voicing what she wants, something she realizes she didn’t do while she was dating Ved. She has moved onto a happier, healthier relationship. 

Image: Hello Sunshine

Dating app Bumble has partnered with Reese Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine and Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur to produce three short films on romances inspired by real-life Bumble users.

According to Deadline, the film series is currently branded as “Meet Cute” vignettes, featuring three female and non-binary filmmakers. Bumble and Hello Sunshine are both platforms that elevate women and LGBTQ+ voices.

The filmmakers - Carly Usdin, Sadé Clacken Joseph, and Haroula Rose – will all be taking these real-life stories and retelling them in their own unique voices.

Image: Cosmopolitan

Single life is full of ups and downs, and while the dramatic moments are not always fun to live through, they make for great entertainment. Tinder has partnered with women’s lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan to create a branded podcast that digs into what dating is really like across the United States.

‘Single, Swipe, Repeat’ is a 12-episode audio show hosted by Faye Brennan, Sex & Relationships Director of Cosmopolitan. Brennan is joined each week by a celebrity guest host to break down the most memorable, hilarious, emotional, romantic and relatable dating stories shared by Tinder users throughout the country.

With 2018 in the rearview mirror, dating experts are sharing their predictions for the year that lies ahead. What trends can singles look forward to? How will the online dating industry progress in 2019? Here’s what experts think the new year has in store.

Singles Will Embrace ‘Old-Fashioned’ Dating

Dating is headed back to basics says emotional wellness expert Dr. Natasha Sharma. “People are ready to start ditching the shallow, so-many-choices approach to dating, and move back to more ‘older-fashioned’ ways and alternative ways of meeting people,” she told Global News.

Data from Zoosk backs up Sharma’s prediction. A survey found that online daters were considered more old-fashioned in 2018, and that users who described themselves as old-fashioned in their profiles received 16 percent more messages than those who didn’t. The survey also found a majority of singles still consider holding a door open for someone and paying for the first date to be romantic gestures.

Tick, tick, tick… the countdown to the end of February is almost over, the month with Valentine’s Day. Dating services are still in full swing and are still going strong.

Zoosk took the opportunity of the holiday to survey its members about what romance means in 2018. With so many singles now turning to technology to find someone special, dating looks more than a little different than it did in decades past. But are we less romantic as a result? Or is Cupid working his magic just the same as he always has?

After surveying 9,000 members and reviewing data from 750,000 profiles and 200,000 messages, Zoosk has confidently declared that romance is alive and thriving. The study reveals how modern singles express love, which romantic words will get you matches, and which gifts and gestures are sure bets for impressing dates.

Here are a few highlights: