Profiles

During Pride month Tinder announced that users will now be able to identify their sexual orientation on their profiles. The ‘Orientation’ feature allows users to choose up to three labels they identify with in order to more effectively match based on sexual preferences.

To edit or add more information about your sexual orientation on Tinder, simply edit your profile. Tap Orientation to select up to three terms that you feel best describe your sexual orientation. There are nine options to choose from, including “straight,” “gay,” “bisexual,” “queer” and “asexual.” New users will see these options as part of their onboarding process.

Dating app Lumen is coming out strong for the over 50 online dating market. It has already achieved one million downloads in just eight months (Android and iOS). In June, the company announced the launch of an international campaign dubbed “50 is just the start,” partnering with over-50 dance group The Silver Classix Crew in its ads.

The dance group performs in costumes that hide their identities, so they could be mistaken for much younger dancers. The end of the ad has them removing their masks to reveal performers with gray hair and other signs of age, meant to make viewers question their preconceptions of what “older” means. The ad will air in various global markets on both broadcast and digital platforms like Comcast and Hulu, according to website Campaign US.

Hinge has taken a bold new step in differentiating itself in a crowded dating app market. Its new branding campaign was just unveiled with the slogan “designed to be deleted,” assuring users of its intention: to help them find serious relationships and get off the app for good.

According to The Verge, Hinge has also debuted a new redesign to put this message front and center for users. The new profile creation process utilizes animation and prompts for users to add information about themselves, adding the tag at the end of each suggestion: “so you can delete us.”

Tech Crunch broke the news that popular dating app Tinder is teaming up with Spotify to test a new feature that allows users to share songs with each other.

The website reported that users could select songs from their own Spotify playlists to be shared via the in-app messenger, to engage users and get people to connect. Last year, the company unveiled another new feature allowing users to share Bitmoji and GIFs over the app’s messenger service, a move to increase engagement among social media savvy members.

The Spotify testing is currently taking place in different cities around the globe, but only with Spotify and no other streaming music service, according to Tech Crunch. The new feature was originally spotted by the blog MSPoweruser.

Match has just launched a new feature called the Super Match Badge (currently in the UK only), allowing women to award men who check off all parts of Match’s profile and behavior requirements. The purpose of the badge is for women to immediately identify great candidates who they might want to meet.

Match is making an effort to appeal to women who have had to deal with less-than-tolerable behavior from men over dating apps. Many online daters have complained about ghosting and sending inappropriate messages and photos, and this is Match’s way of addressing the issue.

It’s also a good strategy for men who use dating apps – you can set yourself apart from the crowd.

These so-called Match Heroes who receive the Super Match Badge have to complete many steps in the process, including:

Facebook Dating recently launched in Colombia, months after the company announced the new service at its developer conference in May. There’s been a lot of speculation, but now the first users are getting a taste of how the service will work.

According to Mashable, Facebook Dating is completely separate from your traditional Facebook profile, so you can feel free to search for potential dates without your activity showing up on your main Facebook page. Users can opt-in from the main menu where you find groups, Marketplace, and events. Then you can create a profile by adding photos and information, like where you went to school.

One of the main differences of Facebook’s service (as pointed out by Business Insider), is that Facebook is not matching people within their social media circle like other apps, so there’s no concern you’ll be matched directly with your online friends, which was an initial concern among users. Instead, Facebook Dating is connecting users according to interests and activities. Based on these attributes, Facebook by default will include friends-of-friends as well as strangers unless you only want to see people with no mutual connections.