Dating

Dateability is the latest new dating app to launch and is designed specifically for helping disabled singles connect.

The app was founded by two sisters, Jacqueline and Alexa Child, inspired by Jacqueline’s challenging time on traditional dating apps. According to the Washington Post, she recalled messaging a match she made on a popular dating app to meet for dinner or drinks (nothing strenuous) due to her connective tissue disorder, and he responded: “well, I hope you’re not planning to have children. You shouldn’t pass that on.”

He wasn’t alone in that type of abuse, according to Jacqueline. Dating apps were fraught with people who didn’t understand her disability, or worse, were hostile towards her. She had a hard time processing these conversations, and even talking with her friends and family about her dating experiences but wanted something to change.

A new study by Dating.com found that while meeting people through online dating is at an all-time high, people are concerned about the cost of dating in real life.

The company reported that 52 percent of respondents said they are content to hold off scheduling dates to prevent themselves from spending money on clothing, gas, and transportation, let alone the costs of the date like buying drinks, food or an admission ticket to a museum or concert.

"The increase in prices of food, gas, clothing and many other products and services has left singles rethinking their usual dating habits and patterns as they make an effort to save money," Maria Sullivan, Dating Expert and Vice President of Dating.com, said in a press release.

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble will offer a real-life Bantr on its platform, the fictional dating app made famous on hit TV series Ted Lasso.

Starting October 13th and through the end of the year on Thursdays at 7pm, Bumble is offering Bantr Live, and operates much like the fictional app, according to the company’s blog post. When you decide to play, you won’t be able to see or swipe on other daters’ profiles. Instead, you will be paired at random to strike up a text chat with someone who matches your location, age and gender preferences, but you won’t be able to see photos or their profile (just their name). Much like Bantr on Ted Lasso, these events are meant to spark conversation ahead of seeing what someone looks like to make for a more genuine match from the start.

Participants get three minutes to decide if they want to keep chatting, and then they are matched with the next participant to see if a connection can be made. At the end of the event, users can see who matched with them. At this point, they will be able to see the profiles and photos of these matches.

A new study by Pew Research Center found that roughly half of U.S. online daters, or 47 percent of those surveyed, want to see the vaccination status on the profiles of potential matches.

Covid-19 vaccination status has been a divisive issue for people when it comes to dating. Many are eager to move past the pandemic and don’t mind if their dates aren’t vaccinated or if they know up front how they feel about getting the vaccine. But still, 47 percent say it is at least somewhat important that they know upfront before they start engaging with a date, and that they look to see if their matches included vaccination status in their profiles. About a quarter of all respondents said it was very important their dates mention their vaccination status in their profiles.

When drilling down, Pew found that those wanting to see their dates’ vaccination status were more likely to vote Democratic, so the divide was also along political party lines. The research found that respondents who identified as Democrats were more likely to be vaccinated and more likely to say they would only go out with someone who is vaccinated.

Bumble is testing a new speed dating feature in the U.K. to see how effective it is in getting users to engage with each other over the app.

According to Tech Crunch, the company has been alerting U.K. users to a specific date and time when the virtual speed dating event happens, so they can choose to join. When they do, they are not shown their dates’ photos up front – instead, they briefly chat before photos are revealed.

Tech Crunch did share how the feature worked, and that it’s being presented as a game rather than an event (referring to attendees as “players” who click a “play game” button to start). Participants must agree to some rules (similar to Facebook’s speed dating app Sparked), where they are asked to “keep it respectful” before they can play. They also must agree to not ask about their date’s looks – the reveal comes later, after the two have decided there’s a connection. Each couple is given three minutes to chat before they can see each other’s photos.

Dating app Hinge is targeting Gen Z daters with new video and polling features which are popular tools on social media apps.

Video Prompts and Prompt Polls help users strike up conversations in a more organic and playful way. Gen Z daters are looking for something more engaging than swiping, so Hinge and other dating apps are turning to game-like and video features to entertain and draw them in.

A video feature already exists in the Hinge app, but with Video Prompts, users are limited to recording within the app instead of posting something from their camera rolls, making for a more spontaneous and less polished introduction. Hinge says that this “encourages a filterless and authentic interaction between users,” according to Tech Crunch.