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Tinder has announced that it will be releasing a new video chat feature in the second quarter of this year. This news comes as people around the world continue to socially distance in the wake of the coronavirus, and as its parent company Match Group shared that the app’s subscriber growth had slowed.

Match Group didn’t give specifics about Tinder’s new video chat feature and what it would look like, but they did indicate they were testing the waters with a new video chat platform on another one of its apps, Plenty of Fish. POF offers a live stream video platform where users can observe and weigh in with likes and comments on other user’s live streams. The app is also offering a virtual speed dating feature called NextDate, which allows users to meet and talk briefly with several matches before deciding whether to take the video chat to a one-on-one conversation.

CEO of POF, Malgosia Green

Image: POF

Plenty of Fish (POF) has had a reputation as a hookup app among dating app users, but under the direction of CEO Malgosia Green the last two years, the company is pivoting to create a more engaging and authentic experience for users.

In a recent interview with Green posted on the company’s blog, she discusses her primary goal to create a more authentic online dating experience at POF. The company’s research found that 84% of singles said they wanted more authenticity in dating and think all face filters should be banned. As a result, POF was the first to implement a face filter ban and committed to auditing 70 million images and removing face-filtered images. 

POF is taking virtual dating to the next level with a new initiative called NextDate Social Hours on its POF Live! platform.

NextDate is like virtual speed dating, where users have the opportunity not only to meet new people but also win prizes for participating. Users can go to POF Live! and hit the “go live” button to join while the speed dating hours are in session. They can join NextDate by clicking the heart at the bottom on their screens.

Once a user has joined NextDate, they will get paired with a potential match who has also joined. Then each of you is given some prompts to ask questions and get to know each other while other participants can watch and send hearts and other virtual gifts of encouragement, according to POF’s blog.

As a growing number of people began social distancing, they are turning to dating apps for connection – and specifically, logging on to Tinder.

Tinder reported that it received over 3 billion swipes in one day – Sunday March 28th – the highest number ever recorded in the app’s eight-year history.

The company also noted in a press release that daily conversations have increased about 20% across the globe, and the average length of conversations is 25% longer. In the US, conversations have been up an average of 19% and the average length of a conversation is 8% longer.

A new study of online dating practices and attitudes in America has just been released by Pew Research, and the most surprising finding: the majority of dating app users find the experience of online dating positive. 

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed say they have had an overall positive experience with dating apps, including 14 percent who describe their experience as “very positive” and 43 percent who said it was somewhat positive. About 40 percent of dating apps users describe their experience as “somewhat negative” (including 9% who describe it as very negative).

Image: hinge

Dating app Hinge wanted to get people meeting IRL back at the beginning of March. This promotional effort offered $100 to users who take a break from the app for one day to go on a date.

For those who wanted to cash in, Hinge required users to go on a date on Friday March 6th and discontinue using Hinge for the next 24 hours. The date the company chose coincided with the National Day of Unplugging.

According to Yahoo! Fianance, users were given a simple set of instructions to follow: log in to the app to set up a date for March 6th. At 4:00pm EST on that day, users were instructed to open their apps and hit “pause your account” before closing the app. Hinge asked that they note the time, because the app will need to be paused for a full 24 hours in order for the user to qualify.