Dating Services

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder released its annual report The Year in Swipe, and found that while the pandemic dominated the year, dating apps benefitted with an increase in subscriptions and user activity. 

While many singles were stuck at home they chose to connect virtually, with messages and swipes up by double digits compared to back in February, according to Inside Hook.

“Travel” was the most-used term this year, especially around March and April when the first lockdowns began and people had to cancel their plans. Also popular in 2020 were pandemic-related ice breakers, with many using the phrase “quarantine and chill” and discussing mask wearing habits and protocols with their matches.

Recipient
OurTime

The Editor's Top Pick - Senior Award recipient is OurTime. This dating service matches singles 50 and older together and is run by People Media (which is owned by Match Group) who have been in the dating business for almost 20 years. It is one of the larger seniors oriented dating service in North America and is popular in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe as well.

The OurTime service can be accessed from their website and dating apps (for Google Android and Apple's iOS). Which ever device you use to access the service, you will find that OurTime makes it easy for those new to online dating to quickly get searching and finding other members that spark their interest, and get them to reach out to communicate with. OurTime doesn't reinvent dating but keeps it simple to use while still having all the features one would expect of a dating service.

Dating app Hinge has rolled out some impressive new features to help users connect with matches who spark their interest, and to help them engage in conversation.

According to Adweek, the app is offering new visuals that don’t resemble a traditional dating app, intended to capture the attention of its users – specifically, hand-drawn illustrations of people, dogs and plants in a color palette of purple, green and red. These illustrated characters will also offer users prompts and tips for starting conversations. Hinge intends to create more warmth and fun to the dating app experience, which they feel will help users connect. 

My Transsexual Date, the leading online platform for transgender women and trans oriented men looking for love, is taking its web-based version to a mobile app.

The company announced that its new dating app is in development and will soon be available on both iOS and Android. It will also be connected to the dating website when it rolls out. Once the app is released, it will have the largest user base for trans daters, giving it an edge over other trans dating platforms. Currently, users can sign up online and browse via the website on their desktops or phones, but there hasn’t been a dedicated app.

The company takes security very seriously, with a moderation team that is staffed around the clock to ensure the safety of users and prevent harassment of members. Added to that, My Transsexual Date is working on a new profile verification system where members will have to take a photo or record a video to prove they are real, in order to curb the proliferation of fake profiles – a common issue among online dating platforms.

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder partnered with star rapper Megan Thee Stallion for its “Put Yourself Out There” Challenge, a way to encourage Tinder users to be more authentic in their profiles. 

The promotion is helping users gear up for online dating’s most active day, the first Sunday in January also known as the dating Super Bowl, where people flock to dating apps looking for a new relationship. The campaign is to encourage people to revise their profiles to be more creative and to showcase their unique personality traits, according to Fast Company. Tinder is offering $10,000 to 100 users in categories such as most personality, most creative, most original, most real, and others.

To enter, participants must take a screenshot or video of their new profile and post it to Instagram by December 31st, tagging @Tinder, #PYOTChallenge and #contest.

Dating app usage has increased significantly this year, in part due to the global pandemic. But as we go into cuffing season and usage continues to skyrocket, privacy experts from the Brookings Institute are cautioning dating app users to be careful with sharing their personal information.

The research firm notes that online dating has been increasing rapidly in the last decade, especially since the debut of dating app Tinder in 2012. Thirty percent of American adults had tried online dating in 2019, compared to just 13% in 2013.

This year however, there has been an explosion of new online daters. Match Group (which controls 60% of the dating app market with apps like Tinder, OkCupid, and Hinge), reported a fifteen percent increase in new subscribers in the second quarter of 2020, and a record-breaking 3 billion swipes on Tinder in one day in March when lockdowns began. From March to May of 2020, OkCupid saw a 700% increase in dates and Bumble had a 70% increase in video calls, Brookings points out.