Features

OkCupid has built a reptuation as one of the more open-minded dating services available for singles. In their latest progressive move, the site is adding a feature designed to help users explore nonmonogamy.

The new setting became available for some beta users last December and rolled out site-wide in Januray 2016. Polyamorous daters who are listed as “seeing someone,” “married,” or “in an open relationship” can now link their profiles with their partners' profiles and search for new additions to their relationship.

The decision to add the option for polyamorous users comes after OkCupid noticed an uptick in interest in nonmonogamous relationships. According to the company’s data, 42% of its users would consider dating someone who is already involved in an open or poly relationship. Another 24% say they are “seriously interested” in group sex. Combined, reports The Atlantic, those two numbers represent increases of 8 percentage points from five years ago.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the number of OkCupid users who say they are solely committed to monogamy has fallen to a minority of all users: 44%, down from 56% in 2010.

The trend on OkCupid is reflective of a larger trend throughout the United States. Psychology Today reported in 2014 that "sexually non-monogamous couples in the United States number in the millions." Surveys suggest that 4 to 5 percent of Americans are now involved in polyamorous relationships.

This isn't the first time OkCupid has made headlines for its forward-thinking take on online dating. The site added an “open relationship” option back in 2014. Last year, it increased the number of genders it recognizes to 22. Tinder and Match.com, also owned by OkCupid parent company Match Group, do not yet have plans to add a similar feature for nonmonogamous users.

Outside of Match Group, OkCupid remains a trendsetter. Though specialized dating sites for polyamorous people were already available, this seems to be the first time a mainstream online dating service has offered a feature for nonmonogamous partners. In the past, poly couples resorted to creating confusing joint profiles or describing their arrangement in their bios.

Jimena Almendares, OkCupid’s chief product officer, told The Atlantic the company isn't trying to make a statement – it's merely following the numbers and giving users the tools they need to find the relationships they want.

“Finding your partner is very important,” she said, “you should have the option to express specifically and exactly who you are and what you need.”

For more information on this dating service please read our review of OkCupid.

Online dating is big business after the holidays. In fact, user activity remains consistently high until Valentine’s Day, according to reports from online dating veteran websites like Match.

But it’s also a huge time for dating apps, especially Tinder – who had its biggest growth day in its history. On Sunday January 3rd, Tinder execs revealed that the app experienced the most downloads and the most growth of active users in a single day - ever. (Coincidentally, most online dating sites report that their biggest, busiest day of the year is the Sunday after New Year’s, when people are faced with the end of holiday revelry and the return to work.)

Needless to say, Tinder must have seen this spike coming and decided to take advantage with a new feature, which came in the form of a push notification. The notification alerted users when there was 2x to 3x higher rate of matches in their local area. It said:

Wow! Tinder is on fire in your area! Chances of a match are 3X higher right now (flame emoji)

The push notification was an interesting choice for Tinder execs to make, since the app prides itself specifically on not sending unwanted messages to its users, keeping the interaction as seamless as possible.

Tinder CEO Sean Rad looks at the feature as a win-win for users. “When there is a spike in engagement on the platform, we want to let users know so that they can take advantage of that moment,” Rad told news website TechCrunch.

The match rate is the number of swipes it takes to get to a match. When there is more engagement, the likelihood of matching with someone goes up. In a way, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you tell someone that the match rate is 2-3 times higher, then likely they will keep swiping (engaging) until they get a match.

“The most fascinating thing about this type of notification is that, by notifying users when those peak moments are happening, it increases the overall success rate for our users,” Rad told news website Tech Crunch. “It has a compounding effect and produces even more activity.”

The match alert is the latest in a series of moves Tinder has made to overcome its hook-up reputation and concentrate on more long-term matches. The company has also been sharing stories and photos of happy couples who met on Tinder, including a tweet from a couple on their wedding day, hoping to show proof that the app is helpful for finding long-term love.

Tinder faces competition from new services like Bumble, which lets the women call the shots first, and Coffee Meets Bagel, which provides one match a day to make sure people aren’t just mindlessly swiping. For more on this dating app, please read our review of Tinder.

Online daters – especially women – often complain about unwanted and lude messages they get from potential matches on dating apps. Some guys are so aggressive with initial contact that they send intimate photos of themselves - the so-called “d*ck pic” - which is offensive to many women, if not even a bit scary. But there is little control dating apps have over messages between two people who swiped right and started communicating, which is why many find it such a frustrating experience.

Dating app The Grade aims to change that. Back in October, they launched the controversial “Peer Review” feature on their dating app, essentially letting other users provide direct feedback for online and offline experiences with other singles on the app.  This move was met with skepticism, with some wondering if angry and jilted matches might lash out and tarnish the reputation of someone else on the site, simply because there was no third party witness. Essentially, users could say whatever they wanted about a date.

The Grade surveyed its users to see how they actually felt about the new feature, and according to the company’s findings, 71% of people believe that Peer Review helps weed out the creeps.

Case in point: the majority of The Grade’s female users believe Peer Review provides a safer and better-informed dating experience. And according to a statement released from the company… it finally eliminates the "d*ck pics." Of the 11% of men who admitted to sending an unsolicited photo of their private parts, 90% reported that they would stop if they knew a match could review them.

Could this lead to better dating behavior – knowing that other people are watching and reviewing you?

It seems likely. The Peer Review feature provides feedback from other singles, mainly to help inform users’ decisions to swipe right or left. In fact, The Grade reports that 78% of singles are more likely to “like” (or swipe right) someone with a good Peer Review grade, while 88% are less likely to “like” someone with a bad Peer Review grade.

Ninety-five percent of The Grade’s users are pro-Peer Review, and 85% of the 15,000 peer reviews submitted so far have been positive. Results show that the most common reason a user would give someone a negative review is if that person was already in an existing relationship or lied about their profile details.

Despite the controversy, The Grade might be on to something – accountability for behavior in online dating. That is something most of us can get behind.

When you're as trendsetting as Tinder, you're bound to inspire copy cats. Coffee Meets Bagel is the latest dating service to pull a Tinder-esque move, launching the ‘Send A Woo’ feature that allows users to express extra interest in a potential match.

Tinder debuted its 'Super Like' feature a few months ago to a flurry of media attention. Users swipe up to Super Like someone, indicating higher than average interest in their profile. Ingeniously, Super Like can only be used on one profile per day, making it actually feel like a special gesture.

Coffee Meets Bagel's 'Send A Woo' operates on a similar principle. The goal is to stand out from the sea of other suitors. “Woo your Bagel to get noticed faster,” explains the app. “Send more Woos to show more interest.”

Because of Coffee Meets Bagel's unique matching system, 'Send A Woo' stands to make even more of an impact that Tinder's Super Like. CMB users are shown only one match per day. If both users like each other, the app connects them in a text conversation. Each match expires after 24 hours.

Here's where 'Send A Woo' could come in handy. You only have 24 hours to get an intriguing match to like you back. If you don't, they disappear forever and you have no other potential dating options on Coffee Meets Bagel for the rest of the day. Using the 'Send A Woo' feature could be the extra special something that gets you noticed and makes magic happen before your time is up.

CMB users earn 'beans' (as in 'coffee beans') that unlock more features. Beans can also be purchased in the 'Bean Shop.' Beans are required in order to send woos so, like Tinder's one-Super-Like-per-day scheme, it feels special in order to receive one. You know the sender has gone out of their way to catch your attention.

Founder and CEO Dawoon Kang told TechCrunch that January is one of the busiest times for online dating, and that the introduction of ‘Send a Woo’ is meant not only to help users find more meaningful connections, but also to help them have more meaningful conversations after those connections are made.

'Send A Woo' is only in its infancy, but in beta testing users who tried the feature saw 3x more matches than those who didn't. Tinder saw similar numbers with Super Like, so expect to see more features like this in the future.

If you'd like to try out Coffee Meets Bagel for iOS or Android, check our our review.

PlentyOfFish has been in the game for years, but to keep up with upstarts like Tinder, continuous reinvention is a must. This year has seen plenty of change for POF, from being acquired by IAC/InterActive's Match Group to going public as part of the Match Group's IPO. Now the mobile app is getting a makeover.

A new update, launched December 15, 2015, has added several new features to the apps for iOS and Android. Bugs have also been fixed for a more stable user experience.

The first new feature will appeal to safety-minded singles. With free Voice Calling, you can place a secure, private call to someone without giving out your contact details. To call, open a message in your inbox. If the recipient is accepting Voice Calls, tap the phone icon to dial. Take note: calls are made through the app, so connect to wi-fi first if you're concerned about exceeding your monthly data limit.

There’s a new dating app on the market, and this one puts safety first in a big way. Blume has just launched an app that claims to solve the catfishing problem in online dating.

If you’ve been online dating, you’re probably familiar with the term catfishing. It happens when one online dater tries to deceive another online dater by lying about who he is, his intentions, even his photos and Facebook profile. Usually, people trying to “catfish” other online daters are trying to gain access to financial or personal information, taking advantage of someone else’s vulnerability.

Many dating apps have tried to address the problem by providing “verification” of some sort for everyone who joins a website, usually by having you sign up with your Facebook profile. But some have managed to get around the restrictions, taking advantage of other online daters by sending fake pictures and messages.

Blume has gone one step further by making verification part of the communication process. When you are ready to message someone you mutually “like” (similar to Tinder’s swipe), you cannot proceed without first taking a selfie in that moment. Only when both matches take and send the selfie so each can compare and make sure it’s the same person – are they allowed to communicate. (This might also prompt some late-night hair and make-up attention – instead of hanging out and swiping in your pajamas, one of the benefits to online dating.) You have seven seconds to compare the photos (like Snapchat) before they disappear. Once you take the selfies and they are accepted, then you can begin chatting.

While this is a compelling hook and many people do enjoy taking selfies, this might also be a detraction for using the app. Most of us want to appear camera-ready, and might not like the way we look in selfies, or want to spend time taking the right picture, in the right light, in the right outfit (of course). One benefit is that the photo disappears – but a potential hazard is that you might think your curated profile won’t look the same as your selfie – and that your date might not think you’re the same person.

Not to mention, if you like to sit at the bar or restaurant swiping Tinder while waiting for your friends, this would not bode well for Blume. A poorly lit bar with lots of people around might not be the ideal time to take a selfie for some people. Or even sitting in a café having a coffee.

But if you’re willing to give it a shot and take your chances with your selfies, go for it. It might be the latest online dating craze.