Dating

The newest generation entering adulthood is Gen Z (born 1995 or later) – those late teen and early twenty-somethings who plan to vote in their first election. And the thing they seem to crave most from a dating app like Tinder is connecting with other political activists.

Social justice is a big part of forging connections for Gen Z. They are facing a lot of challenges with rising student debt, low-paying jobs, and gun violence, but one of their biggest concerns is the threat of climate change. They want to meet and date others who are willing to fight and protest with them on a variety of social justice issues.

For the past several months, protests have been breaking out on a regular basis in Hong Kong, thanks to young student activists who want to maintain the city’s democratic leanings over the more oppressive mainland Chinese government’s rule. But along with the students who are moved to action, dating culture in Hong Kong is also changing as a result of the protests.

Many daters use popular dating apps like Momo, Tantan or Tinder to connect with each other, and aren’t afraid to list their political feelings in their profiles or when they message other daters. (Adding a yellow ribbon to your profile means you sympathize with protestors while a blue ribbon means you support the police and the mainland Chinese establishment.) Some are even posting photos of themselves at protests as a way to attract potential dates with the same political leanings.

A new study called "Pressure Points Study 2019" by popular dating app Plenty of Fish revealed that modern dating has become a source of pressure and anxiety for many people. They also found that while daters crave authenticity, they also embellish their own profiles to attract more dates.

In a survey of about 2,000 singles, Plenty of Fish set out to find what singles wanted from their dating apps.

First date jitters are a big concern among daters, especially women, with only 22 percent saying they weren’t concerned, but the vast majority saying they worried about how they come across to their dates. Forty percent of all singles were worried if they were interesting enough, 16 percent were concerned about whether they talked enough, and 12 percent worried if they were considered “fun.”

Tinder's Year in Swipe Review

Image: Tinder

Tinder has published its second annual ‘Year In Swipe’ review, a roundup of the biggest trends that unfolded on the dating platform in 2019. Last year’s 2018 Year In Swipe identified Monday as the best day to be on the app, August as the hottest month of the year for singles and music festivals, royal weddings and sporting events as popular times for users to log in. This year, the report focused on the dating habits of Gen Z.

People under 25 now make up the majority of the Tinder community. According to the 2019 Year In Swipe, this generation is out to change the world. Younger users are more likely to mention causes or missions in their bios. Subjects like “climate change,” “social justice,” “the environment” and “gun control” top the list of concerns for Gen Z. Millennials, in contrast, are looking to connect over adventure — they’re 3x more likely to talk about about travel in their bios.

Harvard Geneticist George Church

Harvard Geneticist George Church, known for his work on reversing aging, has now turned his efforts to building a dating app that eliminates diseases by matching partners based on DNA compatibility. It works like this: when two users have a low likelihood of passing diseases onto their children, they’ll be matched.

The move has drawn a lot of controversy, namely because of its nod towards eugenics, or “good birth,” an idea popularized under Nazi Germany in the 1930s to eliminate “bad genes” through selective breeding. Church however, argues that the goal is to eliminate disease by pairing people who have the least amount of risk of creating offspring with illnesses or disabilities.

A revealing report published by ProPublica found that Match Group did not conduct background checks on users of their popular free platforms, including Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and OkCupid, leaving their members vulnerable to sexual assault.

Columbia Journalism Investigations analyzed more than 150 incidents of sexual assault among people who met through dating apps over the last decade, ProPublica reported. Most met their matches through Match Group apps. The researchers discovered that registered sex offenders were using Match Group apps like Tinder and went on dates with women who had no idea, because while Match Group conducts background checks for paid apps like Match, they don’t for their free apps.