Matching

It’s no secret that online daters place a lot of importance on how their potential dates look, swiping left and right based on profile pictures. As it turns out, beauty is only part of the equation. Smarts count, too. For many online daters, the level of education you’ve attained matters – as long as it matches theirs.

A recent study by Queensland University of Technology found that online daters tend to select partners who have completed the same level of formal education; in other words, like attracts like.

Researchers studied the interactions of almost 42,000 online daters from Australia with a large age range, from 18 to 80. They gathered data from participants using the dating site RSVP.com during a four-month period in 2016.

There’s only so much you can learn from carefully curated photos and sparsely filled out profiles. Plenty stretch the truth, resulting in more disappointing first dates than we’d care to try to count. Spin the Bottle, a new video dating app, hopes to solve the problem by skipping straight to actual eye contact.

"With so many 'swipe left, swipe right' dating apps out there right now, we wanted a way to take people beyond the often misleading, perfectly manicured profile pictures and get them right to face time," said Matthew Cohen, CEO and co-founder of Spin Labs, the company behind Spin the Bottle. "Looking into someone's eyes and having a conversation... can be much more revealing than reading a list of interests and seeing a gallery of heavily edited, perfectly filtered selfies."

A new take on the classic party game, Spin the Bottle reimagines the online dating experience with 30 second live video speed dates. The premise is simple: a player gives the bottle their best spin with a swipe, and when it stops, they begin a 30 second video chat date with their match. If they're feeling a spark, they can tap an icon to give their date a kiss and wait for one in return. Two kisses and it's a match.

Tinder might have gotten a lot of action in 2016, but according to a recent article in The Washington Post, niche dating apps are poised to get more attention this year.

Research from online dating sites and apps have shown that the biggest increase in memberships and activity occur from New Year’s Day through Valentine’s Day. It’s the time when the most people are looking for love, or at least a few dates. Traditionally, people have gravitated to the bigger sites like Tinder or Match in the hopes of having the widest pool of daters to choose from. But this year, people are looking for new ways to connect.

Part of the problem according to the Post is that dating apps don’t necessarily lead to users getting more dates. It’s easy to swipe endlessly, but that doesn’t seem to translate to meeting in real life. In the past year, poor and flaky dating behavior has left a lot to be desired, and daters are increasingly frustrated.

A Social Game With Dating?

Think Tinder is grueling? A new app promises an even more vicious take on mobile dating.

Already a source of controversy, FMK turns the classic boredom-busting game ‘F*ck, Marry, Kill’ into the newest way to find a mate (or, at the very least, kill some time). FMK presents users with three photos and three blunt choices:

• F*ck: Perfect for a one night stand, but you’d only introduce them to your parents if you were trying to piss them off.
• Marry: The complete package of looks and personality. Someone with serious long-term potential.
• Kill: Not even if you were the only two survivors of a zombie apocalypse. In fact, you’d rather hookup with a zombie.

eHarmony Compatibility Scoring

Ever wondered why eHarmony thinks you are more compatible with some matches than others? Now, the company is offering a look behind the curtain of its secretive matching algorithm by unveiling key dimensions of compatibility to users.

The veteran online dating company is introducing a new compatibility scoring feature called “The Two of You Together,” where people can identify the matches who score at an advanced level of compatibility. This feature will show the top three attributes for matches that predict successful and lasting relationships. In addition, users can drill down to see how a match scores on all dimensions such as emotional energy, kindness and intellect, and learn more about what each means.

Previously, each new eHarmony member was provided with an analysis of his/her personality type and preferences, including strengths and weaknesses when it comes to forming relationships. This new feature adds depth to this process by showing “behind the scenes” why you might connect better with one match than another.

Dating app giant Tinder is trying to maintain its huge lead in the online dating market, and is also looking for new ways to monetize. In late 2016 the company launched Tinder Boost, a new paid feature to help users “skip the line” and be more prominently featured to other users. This comes after the success of the launch of its premium paid service, Tinder Plus.

Tinder Boost provides a unique advantage to its users. The new feature places its users at the top of searches for 30 minutes, giving them up to 10 times more profile views than the standard method. While Tinder Boost is activated, other relevant, potential matches within the area will see your profile before anyone else’s. This could make a huge difference in your chances of connecting, since competing among Tinder’s 50 million users can be quite challenging. It’s easy to be overlooked, especially if users are mindlessly swiping.

Tinder Boost also offers a built-in timer that lets people see how many minutes are remaining, so you can take full advantage of the thirty minutes you get.