Location

In the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend, two dating app companies have stepped forward to ban white supremacists from their platforms and offer donations to organizations that fight against hate groups.

OkCupid has offered a donation to a Charlottesville victim relief group, which is helping support victims of the attacks that shook the community in early August. Bumble has also stepped forward, announcing its partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, pledging a “zero tolerance policy against misogynist, abusive, and inappropriate behaviour.”

Bumble stated it will use the ADL’s “research and terminology” to identify and categorize hate symbols, and prevent people who use hate speech and symbols from using the dating platform.

Singles in New York have a new way to date, network, recharge, and bee social in the big city. Bumble, the popular female-focused dating app, has opened its first physical location in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. The pop-up installation has been dubbed ‘The Hive’ and is set to remain open for the month of June.

The space is decked out from head-to-toe in Bumble’s branding, featuring yellow walls, honeycomb shapes, and plenty of bee-related puns. The Hive is open to anyone who wants to stop by - users and non-users alike - whether they’re looking for a date spot, a place to hang with friends, a co-working space, or just a respite from the constant buzz of city life.

“It will follow the format of Bumble and offer something for everyone,” Whitney Wolfe, founder and chief executive officer of Bumble, told Mashable. “A place for dates to meet, friends to do activities together, and co-working for our bizz users. Bumble has allowed you to build your hive digitally, and now we’re giving you an extension of that physically.”

For a limited time eHarmony in the United Kingdom is offering new members a free trial membership. These trial memberships will be available this Bank holiday weekend from 25th - 30th May, 2017.

For 6 days you can enjoy this free trial (if you sign up on May 25th) where no credit card is required. With over 3.5 million singles registered with eHarmony UK this online dating service is one of the largest in the United Kingdom and is ideal for finding your partner. With the detailed relationship questionnaire eHarmony takes matchmaking seriously and their matching algorithm is designed to display matches to you that have the greatest chance of creating a long-term and happy relationship. Please note, during the free trial period photos are not displayed with the profiles.

For more information about this United Kingdom dating service, please read our review of eHarmony UK.

So you’re considering a foray into the weird and wonderful world of sugar babies, but you’re not sure where to start. You’re in luck - SeekingArrangement, a leading sugar daddy dating site with over 10 million members, is hosting a seminar for anyone interested in exploring “mutually beneficial relationships.”

The Sugar Baby Summit, which will take place in London on May 18, aims to help aspiring sugar babies develop the skills needed to succeed. The event promises experienced sugar baby coaches, as well as a roster of financial, career, and relationship experts. Each course offers practical lessons in sugaring as well as general advice designed to improve your life overall.

Some of the speakers presenting at the Sugar Baby Summit are:

Match.com Chatbot Laura

In Her, Spike Jonze's 2013 romantic science fiction film, a man falls in love with an intelligent computer operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The concept is futuristic, but feels increasingly less so by the day. With the introduction of Lara, a new Facebook chatbot from Match.com, the reality of Her is closer than ever.

Lara is designed to help singletons navigate the tricky world of dating in the digital age. Via the Facebook Messenger app, the bot uses contextual understanding and speech recognition to provide advice and guidance.

"Throughout a casual conversation, Lara will ask for some personal details, including age, location and sexual preference before inviting users to set up a Match account, all without leaving Messenger," explained Match.com in a press release.

There are more dating apps on the market than you could possibly count, with new ones popping up seemingly every week. Though they cover a diverse - and sometimes outright strange - range of people and interests, the vast majority are made with heterosexual couples in mind.

Winkd is a dating app based in Sydney which just launched this month. It hopes to take a different approach and join the likes of Grindr as a successful service built by putting the LGBTQ community first.

Founders Diana Kalkoul and Neda Robat-Meily, who are both queer, found themselves frustrated with the lack of inclusivity in most popular dating apps. But rather than giving up dating apps altogether, they decided to create their own.