Communication

Online dating company eHarmony will be introducing a new feature to try and prevent its members from ghosting each other on the site.

According to an exclusive in Yahoo! Finance, the anti-ghosting feature is a chat bot which uses A.I. technology to assess activity between members, as well as pulling information from profiles to help encourage conversation. If the feature notes that you and a match were messaging for several days or weeks and then stopped, it will prompt each of you with a message like “hey, this person stopped talking to you. Say something.”

The chat bot also provides specific questions based on the information it can gather from each of your profiles. For instance, if the chat bot notices your match likes certain TV shows, or old school jazz music, the chat bot will prompt you to ask her about her interests. For example, it might say “ask her about Game of Thrones,” encouraging you to not only message your match but provide you with a conversation starter.

Bumble disclosed in an exclusive to website Bustle that they will soon be launching a new feature called BumbleSpots to help its members meet face-to-face.

BumbleSpots offers Bumble-verified locations where its members can meet so they feel safe grabbing a drink with a match for the first time IRL. It’s a new way for the female-friendly dating app to appeal to its prime market: single women.

Getting people to meet in person instead of messaging each other over a dating app is no small feat. Tinder and Hinge have been trying different approaches to get users to meet face to face, but it’s still a difficult proposition. This is especially tough for female daters, who feel unsafe meeting strangers at locations or neighborhoods that are unfamiliar. Bumble wants to remove as many barriers as possible for women to feel more empowered in the online dating process - not only to reach out via a dating app, but also initiate meeting in person.

Tinder announced that it is testing its newest feature Swipe Surge – inspired by popular ride-hailing app Uber’s surge pricing when it operates at the busiest times.

Swipe Surge will offer push notifications to users when Tinder usage spikes in a specific geographic area, alerting users to dating opportunities (rather than traffic jams). As Tinder noted, when more people are on the app, the chances of matching increase.

It works like this: if a user opts in to Swipe Surge, their profile goes to the front of the line (virtually speaking), so other users who are also swiping during the surge will see them first. (This advantage is normally reserved for those paying for it at non-peak times.) Those participating in Swipe Surge will also be identified by a badge on their profile.

MeetMe Live Video Streaming

In the pass year The Meet Group has doubled down and put the focus on live video steaming for their social entertainment apps including MeetMe, Skout, Tagged, and LOVOO. Live video streaming from real members keeps everyone engaged and has increased their mobile daily active users significantly. With the introduction of Live streaming last year and with the final roll out for all apps in August of this year with LOVOO (there most trafficked app), The Meet Group has been able to diversify revenue mix consisting of in-app purchases, subscription, and 3rd party advertising.

Badoo announced the launch of a new feature that the dating app company says will curb ghosting.

The feature offers pre-existing responses to users who might have ghosted their matches. For example, if you haven’t responded in three days to a match’s message, you’ll get a gentle nudge with offers of what to say, depending on whether you want to meet the person or just move on. Badoo wants to improve the online dating experience by encouraging users to be more communicative with their matches.

The responses Badoo offers vary. If a user is interested in a date, they can choose: "Hey, sorry for the late reply. When are you free to meet?" If a user is not that into a match, then they can choose, "Hey I think you're great, but I don't see us as a match. Take care!"

Dating app Hinge is getting serious with its mission to help people form long-term relationships. This week, it became the first dating app to launch a breakthrough feature called “We Met,” offering its users an opportunity to give feedback on their dates.

“We Met” will allow two matched members to privately confirm if they actually went on a first date and share how the date went. Hinge will then use this information to suggest better matches, with the goal of refining its algorithms to yield better first dates – ones with relationship potential.

The information users share is kept confidential, so no need to worry about whether your date will find out what you said. The main idea is for Hinge to improve the matchmaking process with more real-world data. (Though if your date gets too drunk or stands you up, for instance, Hinge also allows its users report disrespectful behavior.)