Features

Before online dating there was video dating, and as the viral clip below proves, it could be just as awkward and cringe-worthy as any Tinder swipe session.

Take one look at a montage of hapless suitors dressed in their retro best talking about being “an executive by day and a wild man by night” and their career in toxic waste management, and it’s easy to see why video dating fell out of fashion. So out of fashion, in fact, that while video has exploded across almost all major social media platforms, it has yet to make a triumphant return to the dating mainstream.

Startups have tried for decades to update video dating for modern singles with little success, but thanks to new features from some of the industry’s most reputable names, the tide could finally be poised to turn.

Did you eat at a new neighborhood cafe for lunch? Do you want to share this over Tinder? There’s a new feature the dating app is testing called “Places,” which lets potential matches know where you’ve been.

Website The Verge broke the story with screenshots of the new feature, showing how GPS tracking can now be used as a way to connect with your dates. The idea behind Places is similar to dating app Happn, where users can see if they had any missed connections during the day, depending on where they’d been. Let’s say you stopped for morning coffee at your local shop and one of your potential matches also happened to be there. Places will alert you so that you can message your match to let her know you were there too, and start a conversation.

Image: Verge

A concerning issue with the new feature is that Tinder is in charge of documenting and revealing your locations to other users. Instead of allowing users to “check in” when they want to share their location, Tinder automatically chooses to reveal or hide the location. For example, you might go to your dentist appointment and then stop for coffee on the way back to work. Tinder won’t report that you’ve been to the dentist, but it might choose to reveal the coffee shop you visited.

Finding love on Facebook? It’s complicated.

At least, it used to be. At this year’s F8 developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg took the stage for an announcement many would call long overdue: Facebook is launching a dating feature.

“We’re building a feature for dating and relationships within the Facebook app. People already use Facebook to meet new people, and we want to make that experience better,” the company said in an announcement. “People will be able to create a dating profile that is separate from their Facebook profile — and potential matches will be recommended based on dating preferences, things in common, and mutual friends.”

The social networking platform is rife with matchmaking potential. According to Zuckerberg, one in three marriages in the U.S. begins online and 200 million Facebook users list themselves as singles. Facebook’s dating feature “is going to be built around long-term relationships, not hook-ups," he insisted, taking subtle aim at competitors like Tinder.

Are you a private school alum living in the UK? You’re in luck – a new dating app called Toffee will be launching to connect you with other private school types.

Toffee was founded with the notion that "people who hold similar views and values, and have shared the same life experiences (such as going through the same education system) are more likely to be attracted to each other and stick together," according to its website.

There has been mixed response to the buzz the app is generating. Instagram posts and a short introductory video on the app’s website point to an elite clientele, with young men dressed in suits and tuxes and attractive women decked out in evening gowns, champagne at the ready. Many reviews are labeling it as another elite dating app, geared to help connect wealthy people.

Tinder changed the game when it popularized the swipe. Now the company is hoping a new movement-based feature will keep it on top of the mobile dating heap. Introducing Loops, two-second looping videos that promise to put more personality in profiles and “set your swipe game in motion.”

“Loops represents the next step in the evolution of our classic profile,” Brian Norgard, Chief Product Officer at Tinder, said in a statement. “With the addition of video, users have a new way to express themselves while also gaining key insights into the lives of potential matches. Whether it’s dancing at a concert, doing cartwheels on the beach, or clinking glasses with friends, Loops makes profiles come alive.”

Like Vine (RIP) and Boomerang before them, Loops allow users to upload videos from their phone and trim the footage within the app. The result is a short, repetitive clip that gives users another way of expressing their most dateable selves.

Worried about finding a date for your next event, a wedding, or even a dinner party? Apply to Date is a new dating platform that wants to help you put the word out, and like The Bachelor, encourages other seeking singles to compete for a chance to date you.

Similar to networking apps like LinkedIn, the platform lets you build a sharable web page (like a resume) that allows people to submit applications to date you. You can add your social media, including tweets, Instagram bios, and Snapchat stories on your webpage profile, according to website Mashable.

Apply to Date was created by Lucy Guo, who was looking for a date to her company’s office party and grew tired of swiping and messaging over apps like OkCupid and Tinder. Seeking a new strategy, she turned to her own personal networks, and eventually created a webpage asking people to submit their applications to go on a date with her. She was surprised when she received over 250 applications, and some from former friends she knew back in middle school.