General News

The U.S. State Department has issued a warning to international travelers to avoid using dating apps when traveling to Colombia. The warning comes after a series of eight deaths in the country were linked to dating apps.

According to CBS News, the deaths took place in Medellin, Colombia’s second-largest city, and resulted from a forced overdose and suspected homicides. Other incidents have taken place in Bogota and Cartagena, according to reports. Though the deaths themselves do not seem to be linked, they all involved the use of dating apps luring travelers to meet.

“Numerous US citizens in Colombia have been drugged, robbed, and even killed by their Colombian dates,” the embassy said in its notice. The embassy also noted that many crimes like this go unreported, as victims are too embarrassed to contact authorities.

Shares of Match Group rose as much as 12 percent after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Management had invested almost $1 billion in the company.

According to the report, Elliott has a long history of success in tech investments, including in Salesforce and Pinterest. The Match Group investment showed signs of promise to investors who have recently shied away from dating app companies in the wake of decreasing revenues and management turnover. As a result, share prices for Match rose as high as 12 percent and ended the day up 3 percent.

According to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, Elliott plans to engage with Match Group’s management, but it is unclear as to how involved they will be, and if that would include nominating its directors. Match Group recently appointed a new CEO for Tinder, so Tinder’s previous acting CEO Bernard Kim can focus his attention on Match Group’s entire suite of apps, which include Hinge, OkCupid, Match and BLK.

Image: Tinder

Match Group has promoted Faye Iosotaluno to head up Tinder as its new CEO, replacing Match Group CEO Bernard Kim.

According to Tech Crunch, Iosotaluno has been at Match Group since 2017, and was promoted from Tinder’s chief strategy officer to the company’s chief operating officer in 2022, when former CEO Renate Nyborg left. Kim has been acting CEO of Tinder until a replacement for Nyborg was made.

“Faye’s understanding of the dating category is unparalleled and coupled together with her remarkable leadership capabilities, I know Tinder will continue to lead the category,” said Kim in a statement.

Dating platform Feeld debuted an updated app with more features in early December, only to find that users were having trouble logging in or using the app at all.

In a statement posted on its website about the app’s troubled relaunch, Feeld said: “Since our app update on Friday, we’ve been listening to your invaluable feedback, and understand your concerns about some of the changes, technical issues, and our responses. We know that some of you missed out on Feeld dates, Connections and experiences, and we are working on meaningful ways to make this right.”

After almost two weeks of continued problems, the dating app provided another update in mid-December.

Clean Slating is the newest dating trend in India to kick off 2024, at least according to dating app Bumble.

The term refers to letting go of past relationships and baggage that you no longer want to hold onto, and starting the year on a clean slate, according to The Deccan Chronicle.

According to the nationwide study, an overwhelming 71 percent of Indians said they are starting the new year on a clean slate, leaving the past behind. Bumble’s findings also revealed that 70 percent of respondents feel that making peace with exes and past relationships going into 2024 gives them a fresh start. Sixty-nine percent say that it will “open them up to new experiences and people,” and 67 percent said it will allow them deeper connections, according to the Chronicle.

Image: Tinder

Tinder has debuted several new graphics and video spots to appeal to Gen Z daters in a new global ad campaign launched this week.

The campaign rolled out in time for “Dating Sunday,” or as some call it, the Superbowl of the dating app industry. The first Sunday of January is the busiest day for dating app traffic and companies like Tinder expect this year to be no different.

According to AdWeek, Tinder has reported the number of messages sent across the app surges by 22 percent on Dating Sunday, and likes increase by 18 percent. Dating app’s busiest season extends from Dating Sunday through Valentine’s Day, when people are making New Year’s resolutions to find love.