Types (Niche)

After purchasing a majority stake in Grindr last year, ​​​​​​a Chinese gaming company has acquired the rest of the popular dating app for gay men. The acquisition means a major payday for the company, but China experts and former intelligence officials fear it could spell privacy problems for users.

Kunlun Group purchased 60 percent of Grindr in January 2016 for $93 million. The Chinese firm has now acquired the remaining stake for $152 million, according to stock filings, which some believe puts the Chinese government in a position to demand sensitive data on the app’s users, including those who are not Chinese citizens.

Kunlun Group initially indicated that Grindr founder Joel Simkhai would stay on as CEO, but following the completion of the deal, Simkhai has left the company with no explanation for his departure.

Valentine’s Day is approaching, which means more news stories about the prospects of finding love online. Dating apps have changed the romantic landscape in recent years and offered more opportunities to meet new people, but have they really helped daters meet their ultimate goals?

On February 6^th Intelligence Squared U.S., a non-profit organization which encourages thoughtful discussion and debate, will be hosting a live debate from New York City: "Swipe Left: Dating Apps Have Killed Romance."

In a nod to the complicated state of dating today, the keynote will be delivered by Daniel Jones, longtime editor of the hugely popular New York Times’ essay column ‘Modern Love.’

Match Group, the company who brought online dating into the mainstream first with iconic dating site Match.com and then with its acquisition of Tinder, is looking for new business opportunities outside the dating industry. This week at CES, the company announced the new app Ripple for those wanting to network for career opportunities.

The app is positioned to be a direct competitor of LinkedIn, a popular career building and networking site. According to Ripple executives, LinkedIn’s framework is too stagnant for users to effectively network, and ends up being primarily a database of resumes. LinkedIn also doesn’t do much to create stickiness for people to update their profiles and check in regularly, unless they are actively seeking clients or trying to find a job.

Ripple borrows the matching game from Tinder to help with its stickiness. When you launch the app, Ripple presents you with people who might be a good professional match, based on interests, people you are connected to, events you’re attending, and groups you are part of. Ripple also includes your social networks like Twitter and Medium, so potential employers or work colleagues can see what you’re posting and what is most current (encouraging you to be more active). Users are able to decide whether someone is a good fit, and then connect with them.

Augmented Reality is the future of dating, at least according to the folks at Feeld. The company whose original app was marketed to those interested in threesomes is betting their new app Signal will be revolutionary for the online dating market.

Signal will hit the market in the summer of 2018 according to Feeld. It works by giving members access to a secret location visible through the app, allowing them to meet people this way instead of endless matching and messaging.

The company notes that most dating apps operate in a way that is counterproductive to what people want. Instead of encouraging folks to meet in real life and leave the app, the apps have created a game-like stickiness. App users become addicted to swiping and being on the app rather than pursuing “real-life” relationships.

Popular dating app Tinder is testing a new feature called Feed, aimed at providing users more insight to their matches, and to help spark conversations.

Feed consists of a real-time feed of social media posts from a user’s matches, specifically posts from Instagram and Spotify. The idea is that users can look at what their matches are virtually sharing moment by moment to get a better idea of what they are like – what they are listening to at any given time, where they are, and what they like doing.

The new feature will appear as a tab in the messages screen, according to website Tech Crunch. Users can respond directly to posts in their Feed without having to go back to the profile screen, making it easy to interact. Instead of having to be too descriptive in the profile, or thinking of something unique to say as an introduction, users can let their Instagram photos and playlists speak for themselves.

Launched in London as 3nder in 2014, Feeld began as a dating platform for singles and couples looking for the illusive ménage à trois. The media quickly branded it “Tinder for threesomes,” and before long, the company found itself on the wrong end of a lawsuit served by Tinder itself.

Though that would be disastrous news for almost any other fledgling startup, 3nder bravely rebranded and came back better than ever. As Feeld, the app now calls itself “a space where you can find your people and experience what you really desire.” The focus is on community, and the app caters not just to those looking for group action in the sack, but to anyone kinky, open-minded, into polyamory, outside the gender-binary, or simply curious.

Feeld was recently re-released with a new design to enhance the mobile experience for iOS and Android users. This marks the first of many updates intended to bring Feeld back into the spotlight, including an account pairing option, a revamped navigation system, and a location changing feature.