Closed

FirstMet has Closed

We first notice that we could not access the FirstMet website at the beginning of September (the last time we accessed FirstMet was on August 31, 2021). Figuring it was just under maintenance we didn't think to much of it. We then checked again a few days later and it was still down. A quick search online did not find any mention of the problem. The FirstMet dating apps where also still available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store to be downloaded and installed.

Fast forward 2 weeks and the website is still down and the apps are no where to be found on the phone app stores. Further searches online did not reveal any additional information. The company which currently owns FirstMet, "The Dating Company LLC", does not have a website so we have no way to reach out to someone to find out any more information.

Since it has been over 2 weeks and everything related to FirstMet is inaccessible the only thing we can deduce is that the service has gone out of business and closed for good. Therefore we will update our FirstMet review indicating its closed status.

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.

Just a quick note, it looks like Mate1 Social Enterprises Inc. sometime in June has rebranded their flagship dating service Mate1, and renamed it to "eDate". There also looks to be a few design changes and feature updates as well.

All Mate1 members are now eDate members and all Mate1 links redirect to the eDate dating website.

eDate claims 46.5 million members which is up about 16 million members from 6 years ago (when it was Mate1). Mate1 launched back in 2003 and became popular fairly soon afterwards. Unfortunately though in the last 10 years with the rise of dating apps things have not turned in Mate1's favor. This is part of the reason I suspect was for the name change.

As always when a dating service closes (or has a name change) we have left our old Mate1 review up for those who wish to read it. In the future we may plan to do a review of eDate but for now we will hold off and see how it does.

Bumble's Whitney Wolfe Herd

Female-forward dating app Bumble announced a major rebrand for the company as it also celebrated its milestone of reaching 100 million users worldwide. Parent company Magic Labs, which also owns popular dating app Badoo as well as Lumen and Chappy, will now be called Bumble under the direction of CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Together, the Bumble and Badoo apps have a total of 600 million users around the world. Bumble’s app hit its milestone number in July and will look to Badoo for help in expanding its global reach. 

Wolfe Herd took over a year ago as CEO of Magic Labs when former CEO Andre Andreev left in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct at Badoo, the app company he founded, which employees said contributed to a hostile work environment. Herd’s vision is to be more diverse and inclusive when building dating apps and her companies, and to put social justice and gender equality front and center. Wolfe Herd oversees over 750 employees in Austin, London, and Moscow.

Bumble is shutting down gay dating app Chappy, part of the suite of dating apps under parent company Magic Lab. Bumble will integrate the service into its own app, effective February 28th.

According to Culture Map Austin, Bumble is encouraging Chappy users to download Bumble and try it out, offering them a week of its premium service for free. Chappy is no longer displaying profiles so essentially the search function is turned off. By the end of February, all of Chappy’s user information will disappear from the app.

Chappy posted an FAQ about the closure on its website, stating: “We’re joining Bumble because we have the opportunity to take what we’ve built together here to the next level by creating a space for healthy and safe connections across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Bumble is committed to fighting all kinds of inequality, and we’re excited to land our spaceship safely in the Bumble Hive.”

Boomers are looking for love and increasingly turning to dating apps to do it. But Tinder isn’t necessarily what they are looking for.

BBC reported that the demographics with the biggest growth for dating app usage are 18-24-year-olds and those over 50. Between 2013 and 2015 when Tinder began to take off, online dating tripled for the younger demographic and doubled for those aged 55-64, according to Pew Research Center.

However, older daters were finding obstacles in using popular apps like Tinder that continue to cater to young users. For example, when Tinder launched its premium paid service, the company charged significantly more for older users, which caused an outcry. Some dating apps don’t let people over 50 sign up at all, so boomers were either having to lie about their ages or look for another platform.