Match Group

A new study called "Pressure Points Study 2019" by popular dating app Plenty of Fish revealed that modern dating has become a source of pressure and anxiety for many people. They also found that while daters crave authenticity, they also embellish their own profiles to attract more dates.

In a survey of about 2,000 singles, Plenty of Fish set out to find what singles wanted from their dating apps.

First date jitters are a big concern among daters, especially women, with only 22 percent saying they weren’t concerned, but the vast majority saying they worried about how they come across to their dates. Forty percent of all singles were worried if they were interesting enough, 16 percent were concerned about whether they talked enough, and 12 percent worried if they were considered “fun.”

Tinder's Year in Swipe Review

Image: Tinder

Tinder has published its second annual ‘Year In Swipe’ review, a roundup of the biggest trends that unfolded on the dating platform in 2019. Last year’s 2018 Year In Swipe identified Monday as the best day to be on the app, August as the hottest month of the year for singles and music festivals, royal weddings and sporting events as popular times for users to log in. This year, the report focused on the dating habits of Gen Z.

People under 25 now make up the majority of the Tinder community. According to the 2019 Year In Swipe, this generation is out to change the world. Younger users are more likely to mention causes or missions in their bios. Subjects like “climate change,” “social justice,” “the environment” and “gun control” top the list of concerns for Gen Z. Millennials, in contrast, are looking to connect over adventure — they’re 3x more likely to talk about about travel in their bios.

A revealing report published by ProPublica found that Match Group did not conduct background checks on users of their popular free platforms, including Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and OkCupid, leaving their members vulnerable to sexual assault.

Columbia Journalism Investigations analyzed more than 150 incidents of sexual assault among people who met through dating apps over the last decade, ProPublica reported. Most met their matches through Match Group apps. The researchers discovered that registered sex offenders were using Match Group apps like Tinder and went on dates with women who had no idea, because while Match Group conducts background checks for paid apps like Match, they don’t for their free apps.

Tinder claims to have made about 30 billion matches to date over its highly successful app (about 26 million per day, according to an article in The Daily Mail), but it seems only 50 percent of them ever meet one of their matches face-to-face. In order to increase their chances of meeting a date IRL, users have to match with far more people than they actually expect to meet, according to the study.

On average, when participants were asked how many matches they had actually met up with in real life, men averaged 1.9 partners and women 2.2 partners, despite matching with 111 and 124 respectively.

A team from Norwegian University of Science and Technology surveyed 269 students in Norway who were all Tinder users, and 60 percent of those surveyed were women.

League Live = Video Speed Dating

Exclusive dating app The League has announced the launch of its newest feature: two-minute live video chats, intended to work like virtual speed dating.

The feature is called League Live, and users can opt in to participate, according to The Verge. It works like this: starting December 1^st, the video dates will begin at 9:00pm on Sundays for those who have opted in, and the app will automatically pair a couple up based on their preferences and location as they do for matches.

Tinder CEO Elie Seidman

Tinder CEO Elie Seidman has promised to redouble the company’s efforts to make its dating service a safe and welcoming platform for everyone. In a blog post, Seidman acknowledged that transgender users have faced harrassment and discrimination on the app, and that there is important work to be done before Tinder is “a place where people everywhere can be who they are and love who they love.”

Tinder has taken notable steps towards this goal in recent years. The company partnered with GLAAD in June 2019 to introduce the Orientation feature, which allows users to choose up to three labels that describe their sexual orientation to improve matching based on identity and sexual preferences. Tinder previously partnered with GLAAD in 2016 to launch the More Genders feature, which expanded the options users have to describe their gender identity. But trans users say these updates do not go far enough.