Features

Image: Tinder

Tinder announced the launch of its new feature Festival Mode, designed to bring singles together through their mutual love of live music.

The dating app company partnered with Live Nation, as well as event producers AEG Presents and Superstruct Entertainment to offer users who plan to attend festivals this year the opportunity to connect with other attendees over the app, so they can meet up. Participants can match with others as early as a month before the event, and the app will feature over 20 of the biggest festivals across the globe, including The Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Stagecoach and EDC Las Vegas, as well as Lollapalooza Paris, Falls Festival in Australia, Sonar in Spain and All Points East in the UK. 

The feature will also include a “Festival Goers” space for those who don’t see their event listed or simply want to be part of “festival culture,” according to Tinder’s press release. Festival Mode will be part of the Explore section of the app.

Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg

Image: Match Group

Gen Z makes up more than half of all Tinder users, and they are using the app differently than their older counterparts.

According to a recent interview with Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg published in Fortune, she said that over 50 percent of users are between the ages of 18 and 25, and they are more comfortable keeping things virtual compared to millennials, who typically message each other and schedule a time to meet in person. In 2021 Tinder was 56% of Match Group's revenue which was nearly $3 billion USD.

Gen Z daters have a different approach, which Nyborg referred to as “slow dating.” She noted that Gen Z daters are much more intentional and looking for a connection: “You match with someone, you chat, you go on an Animal Crossing date, you chat some more, you exchange Spotify playlists, and then two months later, you might go on a date.”

Image: Match Group

Match Group has announced the launch of its new dating app Stir, specifically designed for single parents looking to date.

The dating conglomerate which owns popular apps like Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid is expanding its suite of apps to focus on certain demographic markets with specific needs, such as single parents. The company found in its studies that many single parents have a hard time on traditional dating apps, and often get ghosted by other members when they say they have children.

"Having kids shouldn't be a dealbreaker when dating," Dinh Thi Bui, Vice President of New Verticals at Match Group, said in the company’s press release. Match Group also noted in its announcement that there are 20 million single parents in the U.S., and that they are often underserved on mainstream dating apps. 

Tinder announced this week that it has added background checks to its features, thanks to its ongoing partnership with security company Garbo.

Starting now in the U.S., Garbo’s new online background check platform will be available to the general public and launched to Tinder members via the app’s Safety Center. The new service allows easy access to public information about a potential match’s history of violent or harmful behavior, including arrests, convictions, and sex offender registry records.  

According to the company's press release,  Tinder users can tap on a blue safety shield from anywhere in the app to be taken to the Safety Center. From there, they can tap on the Garbo article to be redirected to Garbo’s website where they can provide information about their match – typically only a first name and phone number. If Garbo needs more information, they’ll ask, which may include age.

Dating app Romeo started a new forum for its users to be able to offer support to Ukrainian refugees, and thousands of members were quick to respond.

The gay dating app is based in Germany and has been popular for years, mainly in Eastern Europe. One of its high-profile features is “groups” or chat forums where users can congregate and discuss topics of interest. This past week, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the app decided to harness the traffic in these forums to call on users for help. Developers launched a group called “Shelter for Ukraine” so that users could offer assistance those fleeing the war.

The app was quickly overwhelmed with users wanting to help, with 8,000 members joining the chat after being active for only four days.

Fourplay, a new dating app that lets friends create joint profiles and go on group dates with their matches, has become a hit in the New York dating scene. The app now boasts a waiting list of 9,000 people.

According to The New York Post, the app was created by two friends who were healthcare workers and didn’t have much time to devote to their jobs, friends, and the dating scene, so Danielle Dietzek and Julie Griggs decided to create a profile together on a dating app and look for matches who were willing to recruit their friends and go out all together on a double date. (Hint: they got a lot of positive responses which led to the idea for the app.)

The way Fourplay works is two friends set up a joint profile and then match with other pairs of daters. When there is a match, the four proceed to a group chat. The idea is to take the pressure and awkward conversation off of first dates, which can often be more stressful than fun, to make it a more engaging, communal experience. If there’s no romantic connection, then at least everyone got to spend time with friends, and maybe make new ones.