Features

Dating app Hinge launches its latest feature aimed to spark conversation around self-care, a topic that has become popular in the wake of the pandemic.

Self-Care Prompts are meant to be conversation starters that specifically address mental health awareness, where users provide responses which populate their profiles, according to Tech Crunch. Users can choose up to three new self-care prompts to talk about from a total of 15 Hinge provides.

Some of the prompts Hinge offers include: “My last journal entry was about…,” “The last time I cried happy tears was…,” “My friends ask me for advice about…,” “To me, relaxation is…,” “I feel most supported when…,” “A boundary of mine is…,” “When I need advice, I go to…,” “I hype myself up by…,” “My self-care routine is…,” “I wind down by…,” “Therapy recently taught me…,” and “I get myself out of a funk by…”

Alex Hofman, a tech investor and former president of Musical.ly (which later became TikTok), has launched a new dating app called Spark.

Spark employs some traditional dating app features with a twist, and with some extra safety precautions. According to Tech Crunch, when a user logs in, they are presented with a grid of potential matches who are on the app at the same time. If the user sees someone they are interested in, they can like the photo – and if there is a mutual like, they can start chatting, but they only have 24 hours to respond or the match goes away.

Tech Crunch pointed out that while there is no swiping like in traditional dating apps, it has a mixture of similar features. Grindr for example, presents users with a grid of multiple people, but they don’t have to match before being able to message each other which leads to a lot of unwanted communication. Bumble puts a 24-hour time limit on matches to encourage them to communicate more quickly.

Dating apps are having a moment since the pandemic began, and new ones have launched this year that are expanding options for how to connect with others beyond just a swipe. 

Tinder and Bumble are by far the most popular apps, but many singles are looking for something different than your typical swiping experience that instead caters to social habits and lifestyles. Elle Magazine highlighted a few new apps to watch in their latest dating app round up, including some noteworthy ones that are following post-pandemic dating needs:

Dating app Bumble has been urging states to pass bills similar to the one it initiated in Texas, which makes it illegal for people to send unsolicited nude photos electronically. In mid-April, Virginia passed such a bill into law.

According to the new law, any adult sending an unsolicited “intimate image” electronically to another adult could be fined up to $500. The law defines intimate image as a “photo, film, video, recording, digital picture or other visual reproduction of a person 18 years of age or older who is in a state of undress so as to expose the human male or female genitals.”  

USA Today spoke with Bumble about how company's head of public policy for the Americas, Payton Iheme, reached out to Virginia Senator Jennifer McClellan for help with the legislation, since the company had success a few years ago passing a similar bill in Texas. The Virginia Senate had voted down another lewd photos bill two years before that carried criminal penalties, but since the new bill introduced civil penalties only, lawmakers felt more comfortable passing it into law.

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.”