Tips

Dating app BLK, which serves the community of Black daters, announced the launch of “Break the Bank,” a new finance-related campaign initiative.

The campaign promotes “financial literacy” and provides tips to users on how to weather inflation, according to The Drum. It was developed with help from networking collective The Gathering Spot and will be rolled out nationwide in time for Black Business Month. According to BLK, the idea came from the fact that black-owned businesses are particularly vulnerable right now, and are shutting down at twice the average national rate.

The Gathering Spot will send in-app notifications of financial advice to users, with topics like “How Increased Rates will Affect Your Money Flow” and “Tips to Grow Your Small Business to the Next Level.” The app will also be encouraging users to shop at Black-owned businesses with its #BlackSummerSpend campaign on social media channels.

Many dating app users have complained about getting unsolicited nude photos, and are now demanding digital consent before a communicating with a match.

Dating apps have been struggling with what to do about this issue for a while, but since the pandemic attracted many new users to dating apps, the problem has grown. According to The New York Post, A World Wide Web Foundation survey found that 52 percent of young women and girls said they had experienced online abuse, including threatening messages, sexual harassment and being sent lewd photos without consent. A whopping majority of 87 percent said they believe the issue is only getting worse. 

Dating app Bumble launched a feature called Private Detector to counteract this problem. Private Detector works with AI to detect when a nude photo is sent and blurs the picture before the recipient can see it, allowing them to block and report the user without having to see it first.

Several of Japan’s largest companies have turned to an AI dating app to help their employees find love during the pandemic.

According to Kyodo News, about 800 companies have signed up to offer the app Aill goen to employees, with the aim that they will be happier and more productive workers if they are in a good relationship. Companies are also hoping the dating app will provide a way to help employees who might be struggling with their mental health, since they have been unable to physically interact with others because of lockdowns.

The pool of matches will be limited only to participating company employees, providing a level of safety and accountability for users of the app. Aill goen is being offered to employees as part of their benefits package at work, according to Kyodo News. 

Tinder just debuted a new ad campaign in time for the holidays, one of the busiest times of the year for dating app users. The company hired creative agency Mischief@NoFixedAddress to appeal to young Gen Z daters, its target audience.

According to The Drum, the new ad tagline is “you’re not for everyone,” and highlights in a funny way some unusual passions of singles that not everyone will find endearing. The ad is meant to assure its users that no matter how unique their interests are, there will always be someone who’s into the same things.

The first ad features a woman doing astral projection from her living room floor surrounded by candles who loses her zen focus when a roommate wanders in.

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble has released a new safety guide for online daters in India to address safety issues and the rise of cyber bullying, which are rampant on online platforms.

The guide is part of a new initiative called “Stand for Safety” according to The Hindustan Times. The move is in partnership with Safecity, which helps women across the country to identify, prevent and combat abuse on online platforms. 

Bumble conducted a survey among its users in India and found that 83 percent of women experience online harassment of some kind, and one-third of women experience it at least weekly. Almost 70 percent feel that cyberbullying has also increased since the pandemic took hold and lockdowns began. These numbers alarmed company executives, whose mission it is to improve safety for women on its platforms, so they decided to take action by publishing the guide. 

A new investment scam targeting dating app users has been detected by Interpol, according to ZDNet.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a “purple notice” to 194 member countries, describing a new money-making scheme on dating apps, according to ZDNet. Interpol stated that the scam “takes advantage of people’s vulnerabilities as they look for potential matches, and lures them into sophisticated fraud scheme.”

The scammers have set up fake profiles in apps like Tinder, Bumble, and eHarmony, and match with users who don’t know they are scammers. The scammers then message their targets pretending to be interested in them romantically in order to build trust, occasionally giving them investment “tips” to turn the conversation towards money.