Customer Service

Image: Grindr

Dating app Grindr announced the launch of its new video series Play Safe, intended to educate dating app users about its safety policies and practices. The videos will be available in the app as well as across the company’s social channels.

According to the company’s press release, the safety features the dating app will be highlighting include the ability to mute, block and report bad actors on the app. Grindr says its team of “human moderators who have been trained on LGBTQ-specific cultural sensitivities and gender-inclusive content moderation” will be reviewing all reports around the clock.

“We work day-in and day-out to make Grindr a place where our users can feel safe and supported, because we know that the world at large is not always accepting of the LGBTQ community,” said Alice Hunsberger, VP of Customer Experience at Grindr.

Dating app Bumble announced it will be cracking down on false reports from users who target gender non-conforming and other LGBTQ+ users.

According to CNET, Bumble moderators are already dismissing close to 90 percent of violation reports directed at gender nonconforming members, not because they violated rules as the report points out, but because these reports aim to force LGBTQ+ people off the app. Bumble announced that it will not be tolerating this type of behavior, and they will be removing users who repeatedly engage in the practice of submitting false reports.

"Identity-based hate is an issue that negatively affects many communities and is something that increasingly many gender-nonconforming folks, like trans and nonbinary people, have faced in online dating," the company said in a statement.

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.

D. V. Williams - CPO of Match Group

Dating app conglomerate Match Group has appointed DV Williams as its Chief People Officer, according to the company’s press release.

Williams will be based in Los Angeles and will oversee operations that involve its employees, which according to the company include compensation, benefits, “people information systems,” diversity, equity and inclusion, and learning and development for Match Group, according to the company's press release.

Williams last worked in the same role for Cars.com, where he oversaw human resources as well as diversity and inclusion. He will report to Match Group CEO Bernard Kim.

In time for Pride Month, dating app OkCupid announced it has added compatibility questions for users to find matches who support the LGBTQ+ community.

The new questions focus on a range of topics, including what Pride means to a potential match and whether they advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and whether it is “OK to silently support the transgender movement.” Other questions include how they would want to have children (via surrogate, adoption, fostering and other options), and whether it’s important that their dates care about LGBTQ+ rights, according to PRWeek. 

In addition to the new questions, OkCupid will also show specific definitions for the 20 sexual orientation options and 22 gender identity options the app offers for users to add to their profiles, so that daters can be clear on exactly how they identify. In addition, users can choose up to five options so they are not boxed into only one. 

Match Group triumphed over federal regulators in a lawsuit that would have had them pay $844 million for failing to remove fake messages and profiles from its Match dating app.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade delivered the ruling and cited the Communications Decency Act, deeming Match a publisher, which means that since the company isn’t creating the profiles but instead just publishing them, they are ultimately protected from blame.  

In 2019, the FTC filed a lawsuit against Match for fraud, saying that it exposed customers to increased risk of being scammed and engaged in other deceptive and unfair practices, including tricking hundreds of thousands of consumers into buying subscriptions. According to Tech Crunch, the agency claimed Match knowingly profited from these practices, and it made deceiving users a core part of its business practices. It also said that 25 to 30 percent of registrations on Match came from scammers.