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Dating and social app Stitch has seen a growth of new users as people around the world began to isolate at home. The app is geared towards adults over 50 who are looking for community as well as a date.

Stitch is a non-profit focused on helping older adults address loneliness and social isolation, a growing problem as the virus continues to spread. Stitch notes that if you’re over 60 and experiencing loneliness, it has the same negative impact on health outcomes as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And while Stitch markets itself primarily as a social app for making friends, it also allows people to meet potential dates.

Older adults are most impacted by the coronavirus and are reaching out to new people online more than ever. Stitch has seen its membership rise to 150,000 members in the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Dating site eHarmony has found that quarantine helped solidify new relationships at an accelerated speed as people partnered and navigated lockdown together. The company also found that it helped long-term couples feel more connected, too. 

Relate, a non-profit that provides mental health and counseling services, worked with eHarmony to gather the data. According to Good Housekeeping, they found that 63% of respondents say their relationship feels stronger after quarantining together, and 58% say they know they want to be with their partner forever.

Dating app Bumble announced a new in-app crowdsource campaign to nominate LGBTQ+ organizations that support BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) who experience police violence and racial injustice, a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement. Bumble plans to donate $5,000 each to these selected organizations.

Bumble explained the campaign on its website: “…we can’t support Pride without acknowledging the intersection of the LGBTQ+ movement with the Black Lives Matter movement. Many queer Black activists have been on the frontlines of these fights for fundamental human rights for decades, and the Stonewall Riots—which are widely credited with starting the gay liberation movement—were an uprising in reaction to police brutality against LGBTQ+ people. It was the same kind of unacceptable police brutality and abuse of power that we’re still seeing today, only now more focused on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).”

Dating app OkCupid has rolled out a new Black Lives Matter badge for users to add to their profiles. The app has also added a list of questions about racial injustice and inequality for users to start meaningful conversations.

Users can add the badge by answering yes to the question: “Do you want to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement by adding a badge to your profile?” according to the OkCupid Blog. It is currently available in more than a dozen countries. 

OkCupid is also offering new questions as conversation prompts, starting with: “Is it okay to silently support racial equality?” Users can choose from multiple choice options which include “Yes, it’s your choice” and “No, it’s important to make your voice heard.” Users can also choose how important the question is to them for choosing a match.

Dating apps like Grindr, Hinge and OkCupid have been weighing whether or not to keep an ethnicity filter on their apps in the wake of protests against police violence in the U.S. and around the world. 

According to Forbes, Grindr announced that it would be dropping the filter as an option from its app in its next update. The company posted a statement on Twitter, adding: “We will not be silent. Black Lives Mater.” But this decision created a backlash among many who saw this move as too little, too late. @guillotineshout responded: “In solidarity we are removing our racism button” is the most tech company thing I could imagine.”

Grindr had received criticism before for the ethnicity filter, but other dating apps like OkCupid and Hinge who also have them, have chosen to keep theirs.

Dating app Tinder came under fire for banning users of its platform when they posted statements and photos supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Shortly after the backlash, the company reversed their decision.

Millions of people around the world have been protesting police violence in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Black Lives Matter and other racial justice organizations have crafted petitions and promoted donation requests as the movement has progressed. Some Tinder users were spreading the word through their Tinder profiles in order to further promote these petitions and causes, and dozens reported being banned from the platform.

According to BBC, one user took to Twitter to announce: “Yesterday, I changed my Tinder bio to 'All Black Lives Matter. If you don’t think so, swipe left.” That user was banned shortly thereafter.