Relationships

Dating site eHarmony has found that quarantine helped solidify new relationships at an accelerated speed as people partnered and navigated lockdown together. The company also found that it helped long-term couples feel more connected, too. 

Relate, a non-profit that provides mental health and counseling services, worked with eHarmony to gather the data. According to Good Housekeeping, they found that 63% of respondents say their relationship feels stronger after quarantining together, and 58% say they know they want to be with their partner forever.

Dating apps like Grindr, Hinge and OkCupid have been weighing whether or not to keep an ethnicity filter on their apps in the wake of protests against police violence in the U.S. and around the world. 

According to Forbes, Grindr announced that it would be dropping the filter as an option from its app in its next update. The company posted a statement on Twitter, adding: “We will not be silent. Black Lives Mater.” But this decision created a backlash among many who saw this move as too little, too late. @guillotineshout responded: “In solidarity we are removing our racism button” is the most tech company thing I could imagine.”

Grindr had received criticism before for the ethnicity filter, but other dating apps like OkCupid and Hinge who also have them, have chosen to keep theirs.

Tinder Introduces Global Mode

Image: Tinder

Tinder announced that it will soon be rolling out its new Global Mode feature which allows Tinder users to match with anyone regardless of where they live, with no geographical limitations.

Global Mode will allow users to opt in for their profiles to be visible to users around the world, and will allow them to match with people from other countries, according to The Verge. It differs from Passport, which allowed users to pick a city (typically a travel destination) so that they could match with people in that specific location. Global Mode expands this capability without limits, and it’s free.

Image: hinge

Dating app Hinge will be rolling out a new in-app video chat feature. Earlier this year, the company added an option for users to let their matches know if they were interested in a video date, and this latest option expands on that.

The company also announced the official launch of Hinge Labs, the first in-house research group to study online dating behaviors beyond just surveying dating app users. One of Hinge Labs’ first projects will be to examine how its users respond to video dating by testing in select markets, according to Mashable. These cities include Dallas, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C. The company will roll out the feature globally later this summer.

As summer begins, more places around the world are preparing to re-open public places after shuttering due to the spread of COVID-19 - including parks, beaches, and some restaurants and offices. Many daters have spent the last several weeks virtual dating from the comfort of their homes, but now according to Mashable, they are considering whether or not to take those dates offline and meet in person. They are also navigating what that might look like. 

COVID-19 has interrupted typical dating practices, but it’s also introduced us to the upside of virtual connection. Zoom dates have become popular in recent weeks not only because the pandemic has forced people to rely on technology for interaction, but also because people like the idea of getting to know someone better before actually meeting.

Bumble and Airbnb announced a partnership to provide a curated list of virtual dates to its dating app users featuring experiences from around the world.

Like most dating apps, Bumble has seen an increase in usage and messaging the last couple of months as people shelter at home in the midst of a global pandemic, and has sought to engage their users through its new video chat feature. The partnership with Airbnb is its latest effort to encourage connection while we shelter at home.

According to Travel + Leisure magazine, some of the date options include going to a speakeasy jazz club in Amsterdam or learning to cook Mexican street tacos with a professional chef, which have relatively low price points for a date ($12 and $9 per person, respectively).