TikTok

In late 2025, TikTok reached a major milestone that could reshape how you interact with the app, how your data is handled, and even how social trends unfold online.

TikTok has signed binding agreements according to the Associated Press to transfer its U.S. operations into a new joint venture controlled by American investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. This transfer aims to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. while addressing long-running national security and data privacy concerns that have loomed for years.

If TikTok plays a role in your social life, your attention, or even how you discover content and people, including potential dates, this change could matter in ways you might not expect.

Millions of people are turning to TikTok to get ideas for what to do on a date or to spice things up with their partner. TikTok’s newest viral dating craze is Alphabet Dating, where a couple goes through the letters of the alphabet to create out-of-the-box date ideas.

Instead of letting things get stale (and doing the same thing over and over), TikTokers are posting their Alphabet Date ideas to help inspire others. For example, if you start with the letter A, you can imagine places to go or things to do that begin with the letter A, like visiting an aquarium or doing an archery session, as website Bustle notes. Then the next week, you look for “B” activities like bowling, bike riding, or playing board games. And so on until you go through the alphabet.

Partners can take turns coming up with ideas each time they plan. The idea is to go through the entire alphabet as inspiration to keep things fresh, new and exciting.

Alex Hofman, a tech investor and former president of Musical.ly (which later became TikTok), has launched a new dating app called Spark.

Spark employs some traditional dating app features with a twist, and with some extra safety precautions. According to Tech Crunch, when a user logs in, they are presented with a grid of potential matches who are on the app at the same time. If the user sees someone they are interested in, they can like the photo – and if there is a mutual like, they can start chatting, but they only have 24 hours to respond or the match goes away.

Tech Crunch pointed out that while there is no swiping like in traditional dating apps, it has a mixture of similar features. Grindr for example, presents users with a grid of multiple people, but they don’t have to match before being able to message each other which leads to a lot of unwanted communication. Bumble puts a 24-hour time limit on matches to encourage them to communicate more quickly.

Bumble on TikTok

Bumble has turned to TikTok to help drive new subscribers, and has seen its installs increase five times between March and May when their campaign took place. The dating app has also seen its costs per subscriber decrease by 64% since running its direct response ads on TikTok’s platform, according to Mobile Marketer.

Bumble employed influencers to raise awareness of its app, creating content that would attract new users, specifically the younger demographic that gravitates to video-based social media like TikTok. The partnership was a success, with Bumble reporting revenue last month that was second only to dating app Tinder. 

The U.S. government is cracking down on potential online security risks by banning dating, gaming and bitcoin mining apps from phones issued to those serving in the U.S. Marines.

The Marine Corps already has strict guidance in place for what apps can be installed on their servicemembers’ phones, according to Military.com. But now officials have issued a notice for its members to delete any apps that are considered a risk, specifically those that can access photos, videos, contacts, microphone, location or calendar. Most dating apps are able to access at least some of these from their users’ phones.

The app industry saw revenue spike to $50.1 billion for the first two quarters of 2020, in part due to people isolating at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Dating app Tinder topped the list of non-game app revenue earners.

This marks a 23.4% increase from the first half of 2019 according to Tech Crunch, compared with a 20% increase for the same time period between 2018 and 2019. The data seems to also point to a growing new user base. First time app installs were up 26.1% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019, and reached a total of 71.5 billion downloads.

Topping the non-game app list was dating app Tinder, followed by YouTube, and popular social apps TikTok and Tencent. Netflix was the fifth-highest earner.