Communication

BLK, a dating app specifically for black daters, has become one of the fastest-growing apps in the Match Group suite of dating apps. Match Group currently owns a substantial portion of the dating app market, including Tinder, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish and Hinge among others.

According to The Grio, during the first two weeks when COVID-19 was spreading and people were sheltering at home, BLK saw an 18% increase in daily activity. Now seven months into the pandemic, there is a 38% increase in activity month over month. BLK launched in 2017, and since has grown to over four million users. 

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble is offering its users a guidebook for dating as we enter the new year, after COVID disrupted social norms in 2020.

The company conducted a survey of its users to find that 40% admitted they no longer knew how to date in person, and a whopping 2/3 of respondents said navigating the COVID dating landscape made them uncomfortable. Bumble responded by offering a new guidebook entitled Bumble’s New Dating 101 in 2021 to carve a path forward for these uncertain daters. The guide includes how to have a conversation about dating, how to approach sex and intimacy, and how to safeguard your mental health during a pandemic. 

My Transsexual Date is a dating site that caters specifically to the transgender singles community, and since its launch in 2014, has become the leading online dating platform for transgender women and trans oriented men looking for love.

Currently, the website has over 25 million page views per month, more than one million profiles worldwide, 55,000 monthly active users, and 600 new daily subscribers. The platform also sees about 75,000 messages sent per day between users. My Transsexual Date is not yet available as a mobile app, but the website works well on smartphones if you prefer to set up a profile that way.

Some benefits of their dating platform: there’s a higher level of moderation than on regular apps to avoid fake and indecent profiles, as well as to curb harassment. There’s also no advertising, a rarity in the online dating market.

Dating app Hinge has partnered with popular taco chain Chipotle as well as Uber Eats to offer a new “Cuffing Season” menu and delivery service for daters. 

According to CNN, the new menu will include three special selections: “Day Date” which includes two entrees and a side of chips and salsa, “Date Night” featuring two entrees, a side of chips and queso and two Tractor drinks, and the “Hinge Date” for the solo riders, with one entrée, one side of chips and salsa, and one Tractor drink. According to Fox Business, these options will be available for free delivery or discounts at certain times during the promotion.

Dating app Bumble introduced a new update for its “unmatch” feature to help prevent bad actors from trying to hide on the app.

According to Tech Crunch, this new feature is a safety upgrade for users who want to report abusers on the app. Before, it was easy for a user leaving abusive messages to hide from their match by pressing the unmatch option, because the conversation thread would disappear from both users’ message history. This made it harder for people to report abuse on the app – there was no digital trail.

Dating service Match has quietly added some impressive new features to help singles stay in better communication, especially as the pandemic forces people to stay at home.

The app now allows users to message with their best recommendations each day without having to pay or subscribe to a paid service, which is an interesting move since previously Match members always had to subscribe to be able to send messages to other members no matter how well they matched. This move brings Match closer to it's sister brands like Tinder and POF (all are owned by Match Group) which uses the freemium model. These popular dating services allow their users to message for free but, users have to pay to upgrade their account to enjoy premium features like finding out who has liked their profile.

In addition, the app has rolled out some other key features, including: