Month: June 2017
Match.com To Launch Video Feature – Match Stories
OKCupid Partners With The Skin Deep For A Mini “First Date” Series
HUFFINGTON POST – June 21 – OKCupid has recently joined forces with acclaimed documentary team The Skin Deep, to create a docuseries that explores the various ways people interact with one another on a first date. The series, {The AND} #FirstDate will peek into couples' first dates. "We're trying to figure out if OKCupid's questions can really facilitate a deeper, introspective look into relationships" said Hans Lueders, a producer at The Skin Deep. Eight #FirstDate videos have been released on YouTube. You can watch them here.
Loveflutter Thinks Tweets Are the Key To Perfect Match
MOTHERBOARD – June 21 – Originally founded in 2013, London-based dating app Loveflutter was relaunched in May this year after formally partnering up with Twitter. "Tweets show the real you," said cofounder Daigo Smith. The idea first came to him after reading material by language scientists, claiming that there is a direct relationship between tweets and users' personalities. "By the end of 2017, we'll be implementing an LSM [Language Style Matching] compatibility score which shows compatibility based on users' writing styles," said Smith.
How Has Brexit Affected The Dating Scene
FINANCIAL TIMES – June 20 – The consequences of Britain's departure from the EU remain a hotly debated topic. For some couples it has highlighted a lack of shared values and this has in turn placed tension on their relationship. Immediately after the referendum, two heartbroken voters launched Remainder, "the dating and social app for the 48%" of the population who opted to stay in the bloc. Mark Brooks, a US-based consultant to the dating industry, says politics is one of the most important criteria used on dating site profiles and in the algorithms such services use. "When people look through profiles they review them in an 'eliminatory style'," he says. "They're looking to find reasons to not go on a date with people [and] politics is a biggie these days, bigger than before the [Trump] election for sure." Brooks says, the fact that politics has moved higher up the agenda for those seeking a match means it is viable to create "niche" dating sites based on political beliefs, like TrumpSingles.com. He also says services should be explicitly posing the question: "Do you support Trump?" to their clients.
by Sarah Gordon
See full article at Financial Times (under subscription)
Meeting A Gay Pride Grand Marshal, Founder Of Blued
NEW YORK TIMES – June 19 – The NYC Pride celebrations continue this week, leading up to the march on Sunday. Mr. Geng is a former police officer who set up one of China's first gay advice and networking sites, and later created Blued, one of the country's most popular gay dating apps. He was selected to be a grand marshal in recognition of his successful use of the Internet to raise awareness among China's gay community and of his passion for L.G.B.T. rights.
Q: What was it like growing up gay in China?
A: Until 1997, gay sex was considered a crime in China, and homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in the country until 2001. My parents still think being gay is a disease.
Q: What is it like being L.G.B.T. in China today?
A: Things have gotten better since, but the situation remains challenging. People who come out as gay risk losing their jobs.
Momo Partners With Four Music Labels
SCMP – June 19 – Momo is partnering with four music labels to turn its broadcasters into professional singers. The company will invest ~10M yuan ($1.5M) to establish a Momo Music Plan programme. BMG will produce albums for the shortlisted broadcasters, while Taihe Music Group, Beijing Haiyi Brothers Music – a unit of one of China's largest private movie production studios – and Yue Hua Entertainment provide professional training sessions, marketing and promotional plans.
Venntro Media Group Eyes Growth After Restructure
INSIDER MEDIA – June 19 – Venntro Media Group is the company behind White Label Dating platform, which powers ~10k websites and allows brands and individuals to launch their own fully-branded online dating sites. The company posted a pre-tax loss of ~£1M for the financial year to 31 August 2016, down compared with a profit of £937,241 a year earlier. Turnover fell from £35.2M to £30.2M. The group said the 12-month period was a transitional one.
by Muhammad Aldalou
See full article at Insider Media
Match.com Launches OurTime In UK
See full article at Netimperative
Australians Spend $12 Billion Annually On Dating
