New Match Group CEO Bernard Kim

Image: Match Group

Bernard Kim was named the new chief executive officer of Match Group, succeeding Shar Dubey who will be stepping down from the position at the end of May.

Kim is the former head of Zynga and oversaw global marketing, user acquisition, revenue, and product management among other divisions. According to Match Group’s press release, the company describes him as “instrumental in Zynga’s explosive growth” and “pivotal in the company’s expansion to new markets such as blockchain and hyper-casual gaming, as well as new platforms like the Nintendo Switch, Snapchat, and smart home devices.”

The move isn’t surprising, considering the pandemic has shifted the focus of dating apps towards more interactive and entertainment-based features. Match Group has rolled out several new options in its Explore section, including two seasons of its original interactive series Swipe Night, virtual speed dating with Blind Date, Swipe Party, and now Festival Mode to help concert-goers connect in real life. 

Alex Hofman, a tech investor and former president of Musical.ly (which later became TikTok), has launched a new dating app called Spark.

Spark employs some traditional dating app features with a twist, and with some extra safety precautions. According to Tech Crunch, when a user logs in, they are presented with a grid of potential matches who are on the app at the same time. If the user sees someone they are interested in, they can like the photo – and if there is a mutual like, they can start chatting, but they only have 24 hours to respond or the match goes away.

Tech Crunch pointed out that while there is no swiping like in traditional dating apps, it has a mixture of similar features. Grindr for example, presents users with a grid of multiple people, but they don’t have to match before being able to message each other which leads to a lot of unwanted communication. Bumble puts a 24-hour time limit on matches to encourage them to communicate more quickly.

Emma Hernan, one of the stars of reality show Selling Sunset, created an Internet frenzy when she revealed in a new episode that she and Ben Affleck matched on dating app Raya.

She told fellow reality star Chrishell Stause in the episode that the actor “may or may not have asked to grab coffee a few times” as they were messaging over the app. She also noted that he initiated conversation by bringing up their shared background of growing up in Boston. Stause replied that Hernan could have “foiled Bennifer,” and Hernan agreed that “maybe that wouldn’t have happened” if she had followed through and kept messaging him, according to E! News.

Affleck is now engaged to actress Jennifer Lopez, which caused fans to speculate on the timing and whether or not he cheated on Lopez if he was still texting with Hernan. The rumors grew when Lopez posted a photo on Instagram wearing a short red dress and boots stating that she was going out for a “girl’s night.”

Many dating app users have complained about getting unsolicited nude photos, and are now demanding digital consent before a communicating with a match.

Dating apps have been struggling with what to do about this issue for a while, but since the pandemic attracted many new users to dating apps, the problem has grown. According to The New York Post, A World Wide Web Foundation survey found that 52 percent of young women and girls said they had experienced online abuse, including threatening messages, sexual harassment and being sent lewd photos without consent. A whopping majority of 87 percent said they believe the issue is only getting worse. 

Dating app Bumble launched a feature called Private Detector to counteract this problem. Private Detector works with AI to detect when a nude photo is sent and blurs the picture before the recipient can see it, allowing them to block and report the user without having to see it first.

Mad Realities, a production company that funded a dating reality show with cryptocurrency, has raised $6 million from investors to expand its platform, including from reality star and socialite Paris Hilton. 

The company’s first show, Proof of Love, features a bachelor or bachelorette who gets to choose from 4 eligible singles, much like a typical dating reality show. According to Fortune, the difference is that Mad Realities’ show is built around its audience, and those who pay to participate (by purchasing the company’s NFTs) get to choose who competes, be a host themselves, or put a friend on the show, depending on how much crypto they are willing to pay.

Episodes are streamed live and posted on YouTube later, and while the show itself has much lower ratings than the average network show (about 6,400 views total), it has built an avid fan base that’s willing to invest and participate, including 1,000 active members in its group chat.

Online dating company eharmony released a new study about dating in 2022, and despite the pandemic, found that most singles were optimistic about their prospects of finding love, and those in relationships were happy with their partners.

The Happiness Index study focused on how people are navigating dating and relationships in a post-pandemic world, and found that most singles - 76 percent – were optimistic about dating. The majority of those in relationships were satisfied, too, with 75 percent of U.S. couples saying they were happy in their relationships. Of those couples, 71 percent felt that having a romantic partner has positively affected their lives, and 55 percent said that their relationship has gotten stronger.

In addition to feeling more optimistic about their romantic lives, people are also gravitating away from alcohol after indulging during the pandemic. One in five people surveyed said they drank heavily during the lockdowns, and now, 74 percent of singles reported restricting their drinking in the last year. Twenty-one percent have considered not drinking at all.