Features

Popular dating app Bumble has launched a new filtering tool for its career networking app Bumble Bizz, which allows users to exclude men from their searches.

The new tool is a filter that can be turned on or off in the app settings. When it is activated, the filter excludes men from searches. The reason for the new tool is to help women find opportunities in careers where they’ve been traditionally underrepresented, such as the tech industry.

The idea is to help women build a strong network of contacts to support their career growth and shrink the gender gap. Bumble Bizz is often used by employers to find new hires, as well as job seekers looking for something new. This could give women more visibility in industries where they’ve traditionally been overlooked.

Tinder isn’t shying away from its reputation as a hookup app - in fact, it’s leaning in.

Last year, the company launched an unapologetic ad campaign celebrating single culture with taglines including ‘Single Does What Single Wants,’ ‘Single Never Has To Go Home Early,’ and ‘Single Is A Terrible Thing To Waste.’ For Valentine’s Day 2019, the company collaborated with Homesick Candles to release a candle named “Single, Not Sorry” for Singles’ Awareness Day. Now, with college students across America eagerly awaiting their next vacation, Tinder has announced a ‘Spring Break’ mode.

Bumble Spotlight

So you want to be the center of attention? Bumble has announced a new feature called Spotlight that will do just that. When activated, Spotlight will bump your profile to the front of the line for 30 minutes, allowing you to be seen by more Bumble users than you would during a regular swiping session.

Spotlight will be available to all users who are willing to cough up two Bumble Coins (acquired through a separate in-app purchase) for the perk. One coin currently goes for $0.99 in the US or £1.99 in the UK. If you prefer to keep your promotional activities under wraps, have no fear that your Spotlight secret will be exposed. Your profile will not look any different to those browsing. On your own screen, stars will appear across the top of the app to indicate Spotlight has been enabled.

If you think the Spotlight feature sounds familiar, you are far from alone. It bears an obvious resemblance to Tinder’s Boost, which also promotes your profile in your area for 30 minutes. An icon appears next to new matches made during a Boost period, but other users see no indication you used the feature. Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold subscribers get one free Boost per month. Other users may purchase Boosts at any time.

INTO, the online LGBTQ publication owned and operated by Grindr, is no more. The company ended the digital magazine’s 14-month run by terminating its editorial staff on January 15 and announcing a pivot to video.

Grindr launched INTO in August 2017. The website featured news articles, op-eds, lifestyle content and advice columns for a modern LGBTQ audience. The launch was part of a larger effort to reframe Grindr as a lifestyle brand, not “just” a dating app, but the outlet’s journalism was praised and went on to win awards from The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In a statement shared with NBC News, a Grindr spokesperson called the decision to dismiss INTO's staff a "strategic shift in focus."

Tech Crunch broke the news that popular dating app Tinder is teaming up with Spotify to test a new feature that allows users to share songs with each other.

The website reported that users could select songs from their own Spotify playlists to be shared via the in-app messenger, to engage users and get people to connect. Last year, the company unveiled another new feature allowing users to share Bitmoji and GIFs over the app’s messenger service, a move to increase engagement among social media savvy members.

The Spotify testing is currently taking place in different cities around the globe, but only with Spotify and no other streaming music service, according to Tech Crunch. The new feature was originally spotted by the blog MSPoweruser.

The good, the bad, the ugly - it’s all part of the online dating experience. At their best, dating platforms help people connect and communicate with compatible partners they might never have met otherwise. At their worst, dating websites and apps are ground zero for ghosting, curving, catfishing, orbiting, breadcrumbing, prowling, pocketing, scrooging, cookie jarring, you-turning and countless other cutely-named but distressing dating behaviors.

Dating services are taking an increasingly strong stand against users who have forgotten their manners. Bumble has led the charge for years, making headlines by banning mirror selfies and profile pictures with deadly weapons. Other companies followed Bumble’s lead. Tinder asked users to swipe left on tiger photos. OkCupid introduced a Member Pledge to encourage more civil conversations. Grindr launched an initiative to curb racism and discrimination on its app.