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Facebook Redesign now Live to All

Image: Facebook

Social media giant Facebook has undergone its fifth major redesign since the company was founded, highlighting groups and invitations and taking the focus off of its news feed. This could help single users who aren’t necessarily on Facebook Dating, but want to connect with people in their circles.

The new redesign places groups front and center along with events, which are the two most heavily used features of Facebook. There are tens of millions of active Facebook groups according to the company, and more than 400 million users belong to a group that they “find meaningful,” according to the company’s blog post. 

Dating apps like Grindr, Hinge and OkCupid have been weighing whether or not to keep an ethnicity filter on their apps in the wake of protests against police violence in the U.S. and around the world. 

According to Forbes, Grindr announced that it would be dropping the filter as an option from its app in its next update. The company posted a statement on Twitter, adding: “We will not be silent. Black Lives Mater.” But this decision created a backlash among many who saw this move as too little, too late. @guillotineshout responded: “In solidarity we are removing our racism button” is the most tech company thing I could imagine.”

Grindr had received criticism before for the ethnicity filter, but other dating apps like OkCupid and Hinge who also have them, have chosen to keep theirs.

Dating app WooPlus has just launched a major update of its app with a new look, logo and user experience in February, and a month later, it was the number one trending dating app on Google Play as registrations jumped 50 percent.

The self-described “dating app for curvy people” announced version 5.0, which includes new updates to profiles, a dating “assistant” to help guide users, and a new feature to curb ghosting behavior. This was good timing for the company as people went into lockdown worldwide in the wake of the pandemic, and many people isolating alone were turning to dating apps to feel connected.

The new profile update is described in the company’s press release as “unfolding,” because users can spend time with each profile swiping through their photos to get to a description – and therefore get a better sense of who they are. The company said that it allows users to show themselves more vividly and let people get to know them instead of judging quickly and moving on. 

Image: POF App

Back in September of 2019 POF received it’s first major facelift since the Match Group purchased the dating service back in 2015. This update kept most of the features the same but mainly was a branding and user interface refreshing.

The next big update happened in March when POF launched their Live Stream feature in partnership with The Meet Group (who also offers the same feature with a number of their apps). With this update and with those in the weeks that followed, it looks like POF made a few other tweaks to established features as well.

Tinder Introduces Global Mode

Image: Tinder

Tinder announced that it will soon be rolling out its new Global Mode feature which allows Tinder users to match with anyone regardless of where they live, with no geographical limitations.

Global Mode will allow users to opt in for their profiles to be visible to users around the world, and will allow them to match with people from other countries, according to The Verge. It differs from Passport, which allowed users to pick a city (typically a travel destination) so that they could match with people in that specific location. Global Mode expands this capability without limits, and it’s free.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, dating app OkCupid is seeing a surge of user activity across the globe.

In a recent blog post, the company shared some interesting statistics – including a 900% increase in mentions of “coronavirus” and “social distancing” on OkCupid profiles between February and March. And this translates to user activity as well. OkCupid reported a 20 percent increase in conversations and a 10 percent increase in matches globally as people are messaging and going on virtual “dates” in increasing numbers.

OkCupid also reported a 30 percent increase in messages since the beginning of March when people began to isolate at home. Women in particular are reaching out more than ever – they have increased the amount of first messages they send to matches by 40 percent.