Communication

We just got word that the dating service MillionaireMatch will be adding video chat soon to the wide list of features they offer. This is in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the priority MillionaireMatch places on the safety of their members. The new video chat feature will offer a way for members to meet virtually on a date securely without the need of an external video streaming service like FaceTime or Zoom. Johnny Du, the Chief Operating Officer of MillionaireMatch stated:

We care about the safety of our members. Keep social distancing is the most essential to protect us, …

Dating app Bumble has released new features to help people connect better over the app as most of us around the world stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

One of the new features is the in-app audio/voice note ability, so you can leave a voice message for a match without having to exchange phone numbers, according to The Verge. This is a way to personalize messages with your matches, as texting can feel kind of generic after a while. It’s also another way to filter matches ahead of agreeing to a video chat.

Coronavirus has taken over newsfeeds and has affected all of us, no matter where we live. Now, it seems to be changing how dating apps operate, too.

Dating.com recently reported an 82 percent increase in dating app usage around the world since the beginning of March, when countries began putting restrictions in place. And as Forbes points out - dating apps are moving fast to offer new ways of virtual connection to attract more users and to keep them engaged, now that they have your attention.

Conversations over dating apps have increased. Tinder reports a 20 percent increase in daily messages worldwide. Since March 12th, Bumble has reported a 21 percent increase in both messages sent as well as usage of its new Voice Call and Video Chat features, according to Daily News. New York City – where the current epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak is - had a 23 percent increase in sent messages. And Bumble Bizz reported an even higher spike in activity – a 57% increase in usage over the last few weeks – because people are thinking about their careers and livelihoods as well as dating.

Dating app eHarmony has released a new feature called Video Date, in time to help its users form better connections over its app. This is especially timely as the world shelters in place from the outbreak of coronavirus.

Video Date is a one-on-one video chat service that is available within the eHarmony app. Touting its safety, eHarmony says the key distinguishing parts of its new feature are the security measures the company put in place. No member will be forced to exchange private information such as a mobile number, nor will they be “faced with the additional safety concerns associated with moving to an external platform,” according to the company’s press release. 

Dating app Hinge has just released a new feature called Date From Home, which allows users to let their matches know they are ready for a virtual date.

Hinge’s feature is different from the new in-app video chat option Plenty of Fish is offering, though they are both owned by the same parent company Match Group. Namely, Hinge users can’t video chat over the app (at least at this point), and there isn’t a “community” of livestreams to sort through, or virtual gifts to give and earn as there are on POF.

Instead, as Thrillist described, it’s pretty discreet. There’s a menu at the bottom of the message feed with your match. You can choose whether or not you’re ready to go on a virtual date, but there’s no push notification sent to your match right away if you say yes. Instead, Hinge waits until your match says they want to go on a virtual date with you, too, at which point it activates. In other words, he will never know you wanted to virtual date him unless he says he wants to date you too. Then you are both notified and can schedule your own Zoom or Facetime session.

Dating app OkZoomer began as a joke, but has unexpectedly taken off among college students across the U.S.

The coronavirus has forced people to find creative ways to connect, and college students have risen to the challenge. Ileana Valdez and Patrycja Gorska, two Yale Juniors, noticed the Ivy League Meme Consortium was growing fast with almost 100,000 members who were posting memes about their new social lives over Zoom. They thought they could do something similar with virtual dating. 

According to The Dallas Observer, they created a Google Form to match people going on blind Zoom dates as a joke, but then they began seeing hundreds, then thousands, sign up. In just two days, almost 2,400 students from 170 colleges across the country had signed up. Gorska and Valdez recruited more students to help, with a total of six people staffing their project, including Valdez’s brother who created an algorithm to help with matches. Now just weeks later, they have over 12,000 sign-ups.