Dating Services

Washington D.C. has increased its National Guard presence since the riots at the Capitol on January 6th, and these troops are turning to Tinder to find love while they work.

According to Newsweek, there have been reports on TikTok that Tinder has been flooded with photos of men in uniform, which is highly unusual for the Washington D.C. area. While these officers are sharing photos in their fatigues, they are also sharing interests like traveling and video games, according to Newsweek.

People are taking to social media to point out this trend, noting how many more military people are showing up as potential matches. In fact, some users in the DC area said the majority of profiles they see are members of the National Guard. Even a reporter for Sports Illustrated noticed the increase in these profiles.

Earlier today we posted about Lumen shutting down even though the Lumen FAQ mentioned they had a lot of subscriptions which is an indication that the dating service was catching on. In the same article we also mention that ever since Whitney Wolfe Herd became CEO of Magic Lab, the company has been going through a lot of changes.

These changes have them consolidating their brands and re-branding Magic Lab, the holding company for their dating brands, which include Badoo and Bumble, to just "Bumble" (we think...). It is not clear what the name may actually be. Some articles from major media outlets have suggested the name is Bumble Group but the only place that name is mention on the Bumble website is in their Terms and Conditions.

In a not a so surprising move Lumen's parent company Bumble (which was called Magic Lab at one point) has decided to close Lumen down and move all users to Bumble. Lumen was a dating service designed for singles 50 years and older. On November 23rd November 2020 Lumen was fully shut down and access to the service was cut off for all users.

The reason this was not a surprise is that early in 2020 Chappy a dating app for gay singles was also shut down by Bumble. Ever since Bumble's founder Whitney Wolfe Herd took over as CEO of Magic Lab she has been reshaping the holding company and their brands.

Some female Bumble app users are purposely matching with Trump supporters to identify participants in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and then promptly turning them into the FBI.

One Twitter user posted that she had seen dozens of rioters using dating apps in the DC area and wondered whether it would be useful to law enforcement to gather evidence from these platforms. Immigration Attorney Allison Norris responded, saying her friend was already collecting evidence against them: "She's matching with MAGA bros and they’re bragging and sending her pics and videos of them in the Capitol," she tweeted. “She's sending them to the FBI." 

Recipient
Adult FriendFinder

The Editors Top Pick - Hookup award winner for 2021 is Adult Friend Finder. This site is the Pornhub of online hookup dating. Everyone has heard of it and it is ideal for open-minded people looking for a quick hookup or no-strings-attached relations. While the user interface is stuck in the past, you can't get around the fact that most people on the site are real. That cannot be said for other hookup sites that look flashy but instead use paid employees to act as members with their only goal to get you spend more money on messaging. Unfortunately this niche is filled with these type of misleading sites.

Recipient
eHarmony

eHarmony is the winner of the Editor's Top Pick - Match System award for 2021. In recent years this category has a seen a reduction of dating services who meet the criteria to be considered. The reason is the pendulum seems to have shifted with the increased popularity of dating apps. Casual dating with swiping through endless photos is on the rise (emphasizing quantity) while long-term relationships and in depth profiles is falling (quality). The result of this is matching algorithms do not have to be nearly as complex since so little profile information exists about members. Thanks to dating services like eHarmony, matching based on compatibility is still important and a major focus of their dating service.