Relationships

Tinder has noticed a popular trend emerging in the past week – users from around the world are changing their location to match with athletes staying in Olympic Village.

Tinder’s popular Passport feature was made available to all users at no cost for limited times during pandemic lockdowns, and many members took advantage. Passport allows users to switch locations to match with anyone in the world, regardless of where they currently live. And recently, Tinder users began changing their location to match with athletes participating in the Olympics.

There’s no current tally of the number of Tinder users setting their romantic sights on 2021 Olympic athletes, but referencing 2018 numbers, Tinder confirmed to Newsweek that there was an increase of 1,850 percent of users accessing Passport to match with athletes in the Olympic Village. 

SwoonMe is a new dating app that offers users avatars and audio clips in place of real photos and videos to encourage “less superficial” interactions, according to the company.

The app requires users to take a selfie and creates an avatar based on the photo. According to Tech Crunch, the user then records an audio clip for their profile, where they can share what they are looking for in a partner as well as give a brief introduction to who they are. Users can also answer questions, like what kind of relationship they are looking for and what their love language is. SwoonMe’s platform also encourages voice messages and ice breaker games to get to know each other, rather than messaging and photo sharing. 

The more a user communicates with a match, the more the profile photo underneath the avatar is revealed - until you can see the actual person. 

Iranian singles have a new state-approved dating app to help them find spouses, but so far, young people aren’t so excited about using it. The app is called Hamdan, which means “companion” in Persian, and was developed by a team from the Islamic Propaganda Organization.

According to the BBC, people living in Iran use dating apps, but Hamdan is the first app to be legally approved by the government. The app’s technology works like a regular dating app using AI to better understand what users are looking for and to help find matches, but the process goes beyond just matching. The app says it is “only for bachelors seeking permanent marriage,” according to reports.

Users can’t just sign up – they first have to verify their identity and undergo a psychological test before they can use the app. And when a match is found, there is a more circuitous route to actually meeting each other in person. The app introduces families, not just the singles who match, and it also provides a so-called “service consultant” to not only introduce the families, but “accompany” the couple even after they get married, for a period of four years.

Bumble is set to debut Bumble Brew in New York City, its first brick and mortar branded cafe for people to meet or network while they eat, drink coffee, or share a bottle of wine.

The dating company had plans to debut its Brew location last year, but it got pushed back due to the pandemic. With Covid numbers dropping as vaccination numbers increase, and with the success of its IPO earlier this year, Bumble is rolling out the red carpet for the café’s debut and adding more items to the menu.

Bumble Brew is a partnership between Pasqual Jones from Delicious Hospitality Group and the dating platform, according to Bloomberg. The restaurant will be located next to Pasqual Jones on Kenmare Street in downtown Manhattan, and has been tweaked since its initial concept from “date-friendly,” shareable foods to a more robust menu, according to the partners.

Are you wondering how to meet people over Facebook Dating? The easiest method is to focus on your interests and start joining groups through the dating app – you can connect with people who share those interests, and hopefully make a better match.

Facebook Dating offers groups for its users to join once they begin searching, making it a bit easier to find someone compatible with you. There’s no limit to the number of groups you can join, or how specific you want to be in your search. There are also a number of groups that offer tips and dating advice if you feel stuck or want to commiserate. If you want to find like-minded singles you can join niche groups like vegan daters, or if you’re not interested in narrowing your options too much, you can connect with others based on location.

Here are some popular groups that you might want to check out:

A new study by dating app Bumble found that getting vaccinated is a priority for singles, and if you don’t, it could cost you a date.

The dating app company surveyed about 1,000 of its American users in May and found that 30 percent said they wouldn’t consider going on a date or having sex with someone who wasn’t vaccinated. Bottom line: if you’re holding out, you might also be missing out on your love life.

According to Fast Company, the vast majority of respondents – 90 percent - want to date face-to-face, though Bumble maintains that many people like virtual dating as a way to determine whether or not to meet someone in person, so people will continue using this feature. Thirty-eight percent of respondents agreed that they prefer a virtual first date before meeting in person. Forty-six percent of users said they would be fine with a “normal” date and another 41 percent said they’d still want to keep socially distanced.