Online Dating

Bumble is testing a new speed dating feature in the U.K. to see how effective it is in getting users to engage with each other over the app.

According to Tech Crunch, the company has been alerting U.K. users to a specific date and time when the virtual speed dating event happens, so they can choose to join. When they do, they are not shown their dates’ photos up front – instead, they briefly chat before photos are revealed.

Tech Crunch did share how the feature worked, and that it’s being presented as a game rather than an event (referring to attendees as “players” who click a “play game” button to start). Participants must agree to some rules (similar to Facebook’s speed dating app Sparked), where they are asked to “keep it respectful” before they can play. They also must agree to not ask about their date’s looks – the reveal comes later, after the two have decided there’s a connection. Each couple is given three minutes to chat before they can see each other’s photos.

The Right Stuff, a conservative dating app backed by investor Peter Thiel, launched in late September and has already been met with controversy. More than one quarter of users give it a one-star rating, with many complaining about the lack of women using the app despite the female-focused marketing campaign.

The campaign featured several women professing to want a conservative man with their same conservative values. However, the people joining for the most part seem to be middle-aged men, and they are not finding a lot of choice when it comes to swiping. Another reason for the lack of people on the app could be its invite-only premise. New users can only join if invited by an existing member.

According to Gizmodo, January 6th is also sparking some controversy for the app, with some users posting that FBI agents have come after them after they’ve shared that they attended the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol. The Right Stuff asks users to respond to a series of prompts when setting up their profile so matches get to know them, and one prompt says “January 6th was…” which is open-ended enough for people to write and potentially incriminate themselves.

BLK dating app has announced a partnership with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s voting initiative “When We All Vote” to help drive people to register and vote, ahead of the midterm elections.

According to Cassius Life, the popular dating app for black singles created an in-app Election Center, which prompts users automatically when they open the app to engage with a choice – “Share Your Voice” or “Shift the Culture.” When users select “Share Your Voice” they are asked to choose an issue that is important to them, such as “universal healthcare” or “affordable housing,” which will be displayed on their profiles to engage other users.

If users prefer not to pick an issue, they can choose “Shift the Culture,” which provides a link to register to vote. BLK also provides push notifications, so users know important dates and deadlines, from the last day to register to vote to when election day is.

Dating app Hinge is targeting Gen Z daters with new video and polling features which are popular tools on social media apps.

Video Prompts and Prompt Polls help users strike up conversations in a more organic and playful way. Gen Z daters are looking for something more engaging than swiping, so Hinge and other dating apps are turning to game-like and video features to entertain and draw them in.

A video feature already exists in the Hinge app, but with Video Prompts, users are limited to recording within the app instead of posting something from their camera rolls, making for a more spontaneous and less polished introduction. Hinge says that this “encourages a filterless and authentic interaction between users,” according to Tech Crunch.

Barry Diller, owner of IAC Corporation, has sold off his remaining shares of Match Group for approximately $1.9 billion, according to Global Dating Insights.

The media titan is founder and chairman of InterActiveCorp (IAC), which owned Match Group before it spun off into its own entity. It split from IAC to become a public company in July 2020, which caused a rift with the former owner of its star dating app Tinder, Sean Rad. He and several other Tinder employees sued the company, claiming that their shares were undervalued ahead of the public offering when they were forced out.

Diller’s initial sale of Match stock began in 2021 when he sold his first round despite the company’s impressive growth during the pandemic. But since 2022 began, the stock’s value has fallen 60 percent, in part due to earnings expectations for Tinder falling short the last two quarters. The app’s steady growth is now expected to remain flat through the end of the year.

The share value for dating app conglomerate Match Group was downgraded from buy to hold in mid-September by a Wall Street analyst who projects the company will fall short on revenue goals until the end of the year.

According to Seeking Alpha, Loop Capital Analyst Laura Champine said Tinder remains a “wildcard” on the heels of Renate Nyborg’s exit from the company, the app’s market share losses to Bumble, and “cannibalization” of Tinder by the company’s other star app Hinge. She also lowered her price target from $70 to $60 a share, adding that “we see potential for further misses” going into the next quarter. 

Champine added that CEO Bernard Kim will be able to “bring in exciting talent” from outside the company, which she takes as a promising sign. Still, she said of the company’s star app: "Tinder has not been executing in line with expectations…Match blamed Tinder for its lower outlook overall and said product launches had been poorly executed of late. The brand needs to do a better job attracting new customers," according to Seeking Alpha.