Communication

There’s been an uproar lately with the launch of dating app Tinder’s new premium service, Tinder Plus. The problem? The company is charging users in their twenties $9.99 in the U.S., compared to those 30 and older, who will have to pay $19.99 (and even more in the U.K.).

This has notably sparked some outrage from product reviewers and bloggers, who note the enduring problem of age discrimination when it comes to online dating – especially towards women. According to studies released by sites like OkCupid, young women are more sought-after by men, no matter how old the guy is. According to dating site Plenty of Fish, the ideal age of a single woman is 25 for most of their male daters. And according to OkCupid, that number skews even younger – with the ideal age being 21 or 22, even if the men wanting to date them are in their forties. Once female online daters hit the magic age of 30, they are blocked out from opportunities – some reports pointing to as much as an 80% decrease in messages and matches - as the majority of men prefer to meet women in their twenties.

This isn’t new. And it does explain why many people post old photos and lie about their ages (much to the frustration of the online daters who meet them). So what will these daters 30 and above do with Tinder – will they opt in and pay for Tinder Plus, or will we see more of a dating revolt?

According to Tinder, the company’s move to differentiate pricing based on age really comes down to economics. The company has tested pricing, and discovered that older singles are willing to pay more because they have more income. (The company likens it to services like Spotify which offer discounted rates to “students.”)

The problem with this “economic” view, as some reviewers have pointed out, is that older online daters already have a shrunken dating pool to choose from. (And online dating is a bit different than streaming music – with streaming, you have access to everything offered in exchange for your payment; with online dating, you only have access to those who haven’t filtered you out of their searches, which means fewer options for more money.)

As the Washington Post says: “The [age] problem is so urgent, and so severe, that several sites have spoken out against ageism in online dating in recent years. In 2010, OkCupid’s Christian Rudder wrote an entire blog post dedicated to convincing men that the 30-somethings on his site were just as cool and attractive as recent college grads. On JDate — a paid dating site for Jewish singles — the site’s official relationship blogger, Tamar Caspi, went on a full-blown rant over age.”

The latest move by Tinder might affect its user base, but the problem of ageism in dating still remains. If people are looking to meet someone special, then letting go of superficial restrictions like age only helps open the dating pool – and don’t we all want more choices?

Tinder has already rolled out its new premium paid service Tinder Plus in the U.S., and among the new features are some protections from spammers.

Tinder Plus includes a new feature called “Unlimited Likes,” which seems counter-intuitive since users of the free app already have the ability to swipe left and right without limits. Unfortunately, spammers have taken advantage of this feature by creating spam bots which swipe right on thousands of profiles simultaneously, increasing users’ match potential.

Tinder has dealt with increasing abuse of its service from spammers. Chances are if you’ve downloaded Tinder, you’ve also come across a fake profile or two that are actually staged to sell you something or obtain personal information, (violating Tinder’s terms and conditions), rather than to make an actual connection with a real person.

Tinder sees its paid service as a way to reduce spamming, as the rewards for this kind of power matching wouldn’t be worth the cost. Apps capitalizing on users’ penchant to say yes to all their potential matches have cropped up, too – like Tinderoid (now labeling itself as “Tools for Tinder”), which enables users to “like” en masse. 

The roll-out of Tinder Plus has already happened in a few other countries, and so far limiting the number of likes has not been received kindly by users who are used to unlimited swiping. According to reviews in the UK’s app store (which dropped the service to only one and a half stars in its rating), Tinder has prevented quite a few users from swiping endlessly unless they pay for the premium service, and they are not happy about it.

Tinder however, says that regular users of the service should not be affected (as opposed to the tiny fraction that swipe right on every single match they can as frequently as possible).

“That behavior happens with a very small percentage of our users, and they usually find that the experience isn’t very good and self-correct on their own,” Sean Rad, the company’s cofounder and CEO, told Tech Crunch.

The algorithm Tinder has set up to block spammers analyzes a few things before it is triggered: namely, the number of swipes, whether the user is only swiping right, velocity, time spent looking at a profile, etc. According to Tinder, a user can swipe through as many as 500 profiles and still not be blocked or prompted to upgrade to Tinder Plus, so long as the user spends a certain amount of time looking at each profile instead of mindlessly swiping.

Tinder launched Tinder Plus in the U.S. this month. For more information about this app, please read our Tinder review.

A recent article in The New York Times highlighted the increased popularity of dating apps, and how one in particular – Tinder – has changed the online dating game.

The proof is in the numbers. According to the most recent Pew study, 11% of American adults have used an online dating site or app. Back in 2005 when dating sites were becoming more popular, 44% of Americans felt this was a good way to meet people. But in 2013, thanks to dating apps like Tinder, 59% agree that online dating is a good way to meet.

Tinder claims it matches more than 12 million people per day, and processes more than a billion matches daily as well. This has sparked a surge of dating apps to flood the market, some of which have succeeded in growing a steady user base based on differentiating themselves from the so-called "hook-up app" (although utilizing the same Facebook profile-validation system). Hinge and Coffee Meets Bagel limit the number of matches per day, forcing users to consider a match rather than mindlessly swiping left and right. The League markets its clientele – upscale and educated – to attract new users. And apps like LuLu and Bumble are female-centric, allowing the women to call the shots on which guys can message them – as well as how their dates rate according to other female daters.

The New York Times article suggests that Tinder's success might have caused some traditionally successful online dating sites such as Match.com to put more research and development into their mobile apps. But essentially, it was only a matter of time before smartphones – which are now used to access everything from email to Facebook to TV shows at any time, from anywhere – would be a good way to meet potential dates. After all, our phones are so much more accessible than our laptops. (Plus, Tinder’s game-like interface is much more fun, compared to slogging through endless questions and profile descriptions on an online dating site.)

Amarnath Thombre, president of Match.com in North America, says there has been a 35 percent increase in the people who use the Match app each month, and a 109 percent increase in the number of people who use only the app to log in to their Match account every month.

For now, daters seem to be choosing convenience over everything else – which might not be a bad idea. Dating apps help people get to the meetings and messages with their matches a lot more quickly than the algorithm process touted by traditional dating sites. But are daters wasting more time because filters aren’t in place?

One thing is for sure: dating apps are here to stay, until something more convenient comes along.

Now that Valentine’s Day is behind us, many will forget the flowers and pink hearts lining the stores. But they won’t stop dating.

In fact, there are more studies than ever about the state of dating today – starting with Match.com’s annual survey of singles across America. Match found that daters were pretty optimistic, especially guys. More men than women believe in love at first sight, (and more women than men are afraid of commitment). 

Match.com also reveal women prefer their independence, much more than men do. Ninety percent of women want more personal space, 93% want to pursue their own hobbies and interests, and 64% want more time with friends. Most women prefer to wait 1-2 years before moving in, whereas men prefer to move faster – 6-12 months of dating before shacking up.

Also, there is something Dr. Fisher calls “The Clooney Effect” taking place. That is, men are going for intelligent, powerful women. 87% of single men would date a woman who makes ‘considerably more’ money and who is considerably better-educated and more intellectual than themselves; 86% seek a woman who is confident and self-assured, and 39% would also make a long-term commitment to a woman who is 10 or more years older.

So what’s holding you back ladies? It seems like you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to establishing a new relationship. “Technology is dramatically changing how we court, but it can’t change the brain systems for romance and attachment. And today’s singles are setting a high bar for courtship and marriage,” said Dr. Helen Fisher, anthropologist and lead researcher for Match.com’s study.

Zoosk has also come out with a study about the habits and preferences of online daters, so we can get a better picture of what singles are looking for. According to its figures, women like outdoor types – guys who posted pictures hiking, biking and other outdoor activities received 19% more messages than those who didn’t.

Also, selfies aren’t a great thing to use, unless you are expert with the camera. Women who took selfies received 4% more messages, while guys who posted selfies took a hit – they received 8% fewer messages. But the women who took full-body selfies? They received a whopping 203% more messages.

In both studies, men and women both preferred people who had a grasp of good grammar and spelling. If you chose to answer messages with “cuz” “im” or “u” – on average, you received 13% fewer messages on Zoosk. Match.com revealed this was the number one turn-off for daters (even over text), with 54% of women and 36% of men agreeing.

So if you’re looking for love in 2015, put a little time and effort into your search, and keep a positive outlook – you are in good company!

With each new dating app that joins the crowded market comes new promises to revolutionize dating. Every app swears it solves the problems of its predecessors, but one by one they all fall short.

We're patiently (or not so) waiting for the real developers to invent the perfect app, but in the meantime, Mic has taken a stab at solving one of the 21^st century's biggest problems. They've invented a Super App – one app to rule them all.

According to Mic, if one app could solve all the worst parts of online dating, it would need to:

1. Filter out lame opening messages. The Super App would have a built in communications rater so you never have to see another one-word message again. Bristlr, a new social network for bearded men, is currently testing a similar feature. Users can rate the quality of the messages they receive and those who are consistently rated highly get a badge on their profile.
2. Block copy-pasted messages. Everyone has either received a copy-pasted message or been guilty of sending one. Either way, it's not cool. Bristlr is also trying to solve this problem, by automatically sending a notification when a message you've received has been sent verbatim to other people.
3. Prevent men from overwhelming women with unwanted advances. Who hasn't, at least once, thought “I could really use a stalker blocker?” A lot of women are turned off by online dating because they feel overwhelmed by the number of unwanted (and sometimes downright creepy) messages they receive. Tinder changed the game when it limited messaging to people who had mutually indicated interest in each other. It doesn't eliminate the issue completely, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
4. Make sure there's something else you're judged on besides looks. Deep down, we know we're all guilty of making snap judgments based on appearance. Enter dating app Talk or Not, which lets users slowly reveal pieces of their profile photo as their conversation with someone progresses. Looks factor into the process eventually, but not before charm, intelligence, and humor.
5. Weed out the creepers trolling for sex. It's not that there's anything wrong with casual sex between consenting adults, it's just that it gets frustrating to only be approached for sex if you're looking for something more. Mic suggests “A feature that would prominently note that the user in question is looking for a relationship versus strictly hoping to score,” in order to “prevent misunderstandings early on.”
6. Send you matches directly so you don't waste hours swiping though terrible profiles. Because no one wants carpal tunnel. The Super App would take the Coffee Meets Bagel approach and send matches so you don't have to waste time searching and swiping.
7. Keep your profile hidden from people you don't want seeing it. Family, exes, co-workers – none of those people need to know what you're up to online. The League allows users to sync LinkedIn with the app so that you never have to worry about someone unwanted peeping your profile.

Let us know what you'd like to see in the perfect dating app, and for more of Mic's suggestions see the original post.

How do you create the perfect online dating profile? There’s been a lot of advice and speculation over the years, but brace yourselves – there is now a study that shows you how to create the perfect online dating profile. That’s right – it’s science.

Scientists from Barts, the London School of Medicine and The University of North Texas have discovered the secret to the perfect online dating profile. In an analysis of 86 psychology, sociology, computer, and behavioral studies, they found answers to questions that have stumped the online dating community for years. They have come up with a list of specific guidelines – from creating the perfect profile handle to the wording of your first message.

Here are some of the highlights:

Your profile handle.

Men prefer simple to complex names, and ones that indicate the person behind the handle is attractive (i.e. “Cutie” scores well). Women however prefer smart handles, ones that show the guy put some thought into its creation (i.e. "TheUniverseisVastlikemyMind" perhaps? Just kidding...). Similarity breeds affection for both sides however – if you call yourself “HotStuff” then likely the person called “SexyTime” will find you equally appealing.

Photos.

The research suggests women should have a “genuine” smile – that is, the crinkles on the corners of your eyes should be evident. The study also suggests women wear red and tilt your head slightly in your photo. Against previous advice, the science suggests you should post a photo with other people so you are perceived to have friends, although they suggest you position yourself in the center (a place of power).

Your headline/ who you are.

Be authentic. According to the study, if someone sounds strangely impersonal or looks like they spent a lot of time crafting their description, they will be perceived as liars. You should also aim to describe yourself more than the type of partner you want (70/30 ratio). Men prefer women who are “fit” but not body builder types with loads of muscles, while women prefer men who are risk-takers and courageous, even more so than if they are kind.

Descriptions.

People look for unintentional cues as well as what’s written in your profile. This is one reason why poor grammar is a turn-off – it signifies a lack of education, also a turn-off. Also, relating a story in a humorous way is a lot more attractive to potential matches than writing a general phrase like “My friends think I’m hilarious.” In other words, illustrate what you mean, instead of just saying something is true.

Messaging.

Unlike meeting in person, people tend to disclose more personal information more quickly if they communicate online. If you don't know how to start messaging a match, a good ice breaker might be: “What did you like in my profile?” – as it gets the other person thinking about you in a positive way.  Spontaneous humor also puts people in a good mood, and makes them more receptive. Don’t play the waiting game however – most people want to move quickly to see if there’s a connection.