Partnerships

Hinge Vaccine Badge

Image: Hinge

Dating apps are offering vaccine stickers for user profiles in the U.K., so potential matches can know vaccination status right away before swiping right.

Tinder is offering an array of stickers, including “Vaccinated” and “Vaxing soon,” according to a report from BBC News. Tinder, Match, Hinge, Bumble, Badoo, Plenty of Fish, OurTime and Muzmatch will all be offering badge options for users to add to their profiles, in partnership with a vaccine push by the U.K. government.

The vaccination badge trend began for U.S. dating app users, thanks to a government initiative to get as many people vaccinated as possible. The Biden administration pursued a partnership with dating apps, hoping they would be a good way to reach out to younger people and give them an incentive to get the vaccine – i.e., they can brag that they did and potentially attract more matches.

The U.S. government is doing all it can to encourage people to get vaccinated, including partnering with dating apps to reach more people while they congregate online. Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Hinge, Match and Plenty of Fish are some of the most high-profile apps participating.

The dating apps are providing some incentives for vaccinated users, too – including vaccination status badges for easy identification among matches, search filters according to who has gotten the vaccine, and free access to popular paid features, according to NextGov. 

For example, Tinder users can indicate whether they support vaccines on their profile and vaccinated users can access “Super Likes” – a popular paid feature that allows users to let someone know if they are really interested.

Dating app Mingle2 announced that it will be rolling out in-app background checks, adding a new level of safety for its more than 39 million users.

The app has partnered with RealMe, a security tool that aggregates publicly available background information on over 275 million people in the U.S., presenting the findings in one report for easier reference. The new integrated feature provides Mingle2 users with insight into sex offender status, marital status, lawsuits, and criminal records of potential matches. 

According to the company’s press release, RealMe’s integration will allow Mingle2 to validate and verify user profiles to ensure safer interactions for people while using the app. Members will also be able to see a person’s Reputation Profile, where the background information is shared. 

Tinder has announced a partnership with language learning platform Duolingo to offer lessons to its users and bridge the language barrier gap for long-distance dates.

The Match Group dating app has offered to give 100,000 users a free month of Duolingo Plus, an online service which offers lessons in multiple languages. According to Tinder, 76 percent of its users who wanted to match with people from other countries found that they were matching with dates who spoke languages other than their own, a barrier to connection. Tinder saw an opportunity to help them with Duolingo.

Chispa, one of the most popular dating apps for Latinx daters, said its subscriber base has grown to over four million, a twenty-eight percent increase from this time last year, according to the company’s press release. This milestone was shared just before they announced their second piece of big news: a partnership with Tragos, a popular card game among Latinos. 

Tragos offers questions centered around Latinx culture, with some references in Spanish, like “Do you fear la chancla?” or "Ever get hit with '¿y el novio/ la novia?' at family gatherings?" The point is to spark conversation – opening the door to talk about upbringing or current social topics, and hopefully build connection.

Chispa will offer an in-app version of the game so its users can play with their matches, and hopefully forge connections.

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble has released a new safety guide for online daters in India to address safety issues and the rise of cyber bullying, which are rampant on online platforms.

The guide is part of a new initiative called “Stand for Safety” according to The Hindustan Times. The move is in partnership with Safecity, which helps women across the country to identify, prevent and combat abuse on online platforms. 

Bumble conducted a survey among its users in India and found that 83 percent of women experience online harassment of some kind, and one-third of women experience it at least weekly. Almost 70 percent feel that cyberbullying has also increased since the pandemic took hold and lockdowns began. These numbers alarmed company executives, whose mission it is to improve safety for women on its platforms, so they decided to take action by publishing the guide.