CHEDDAR – Dec 6 – "Video is a tool that we are using to enable our users to share about themselves in a fun, playful way," said Dawoon Kang. "People are not experiencing real connections on the app." After testing the new feature, which presents subscribers with a daily question they would answer via video, Coffee Meets Bagel reported that 37% of participants were "taken" by other users.
Month: December 2017
ARTICLE 19 Partners With Grindr To Improve Protection Of LGBTQ+ Users In MENA
IFEX25 – Dec 6 – Grindr has joined forces with global free speech organization, ARTICLE 19, to help protect LGBTQ+ communities in Egypt, Iran and Lebanon who face police harassment, torture and imprisonment. Grindr will implement a number of changes to the Grindr app to better protect users in the Middle East, Gulf and North African regions where LGBTQ communities are persecuted. The changes include the ability to change the app's icon appearance and the addition of a password security lock.
GC Of eHarmony Battles Cyberattacks With Knowledge
CORPORATE COUNSEL – Ronald Sarian, eHarmony's vice president and general counsel, emphasized that keeping up with the latest in cybersecurity can make all the difference in stopping the next attack. Know about what types of attacks other companies are experiencing. About two years ago, scammers went after Snapchat by impersonating the company's CEO and asking those in the payroll department for personal employee information. Sarian read about the attack and advised eHarmony colleagues to watch out for a similar incident. The next day, eHarmony's accounting department was targeted by an identical phishing attack in which scammers pretending to be eHarmony CEO requested W-2s for salary review. But because of Sarian's warning, the accounting employees knew not to respond, he said. Even more important, he added, is really knowing those in a company's IT department. New employees should know about what to look for, what to open and what not to open. And when someone is leaving the company, he noted, it's important to have a system in place that immediately shuts off access to company systems and devices.
Online Daters Overshare Professional Info
IT WEB – Dec 5 – Business owners and employees using online dating sites could be unwittingly putting their companies at risk, with many of them divulging company secrets when chatting to matches. This is according to Kaspersky Lab's research report titled, Dangerous Liaisons: is everyone doing it online? 13% of participants in the survey are ready to share details about their work or trade secrets with online dates, with this number rising slightly to 16% for business owners or company heads. 18% of online daters in general admit to sharing professional information with matches after several days of communication, while 31% of business heads are ready to do so.
Here’s Why Matchpool (GUP) Just Gained Close To 100% In A Day
GLOBAL COIN REPORT – Dec 4 – Matchpool had a highly successful ICO in April 2013, raising just shy of $6M with the goal of using the capital to develop a networking type platform. The company has launched an alpha release platform that looks strong and its market capitalization (or, more accurately, the market capitalization of the GUP token base) is rising fast. Over the last 24 hours alone, GUP has gained close to 100% and currently trades for $0.46 a piece, up from the $0.09 at which the token traded on ICO day. Matchpool is a sort of community type platform that requires users to be introduced to one another, with the person who does the so-called matchmaking receiving payment in GUP for doing so.
by Samuel Rae
See full article at Global Coin Report
Snap Interactive To Develop Blockchain-based Secure Video Messaging App
ACCESSWIRE – Dec 4 – Snap Interactive, a provider of live video social networking apps building on innovative technologies such as blockchain, has initiated a strategic product development and technology relationship with blockchain security innovator Gladius Network. They will focus on accelerating the development of Gladius's security solutions and SNAP's newly announced initiative Backchannel, the Company's first blockchain-based secure video messaging app. SNAP will also make an investment in Gladius's recently announced Initial Coin Offering. Gladius is a blockchain-based cybersecurity and content delivery network.
See full article at Snap Interactive
RomanceOnly.com Launches
OPW INTERVIEW – Dec 7 – Laura Brashier has a fascinating dating site. It's for Sex-C people. Sex-C is her acronym for Sex Challenged. I interviewed her to capture her story.
What's your founding story?
I found myself disheartened after extensive cancer related radiation and chemotherapy, that I would no longer be able to participate in physical intercourse relations. I kept my secret to myself for a few years and finally decided that 'this has happened,' and will continue to happen to thousands of people for different reasons. Most, if not all them will not share their story of why they now have this dilemma. I decided to be of assistance to the Sex-C community, and my niche internet dating site was launched (initially as 2date4love.com).
Why did you change the site name?
The reason I changed the site name because it was brought to my attention that it wasn't a good plan to have numbers in the URL (2date4love.com). The name also didn't tell the public what the site was about in the name. So, I found and purchased RomanceOnly.com because it tells the essence of what the site is about, as well as being a premium domain name. I'm much happier with this name!
You have a new acronym, Sex-C?
I created this new acronym Sex-C because I thought it was a catchy phrase. Those that have intercourse related dilemmas still feel sexy there's just a missing link. They're "challenged" when it comes to intercourse but not in the many other aspects of love and affection that we all desire! Sex-C.
What's your goals for RomanceOnly.com in 2018?
My goals for 2018 is to get out and spread the word for all those keeping their Sex-C side a secret! I plan on going to doctors conferences to spread the word. Most doctors deal with this dilemma. They just don't know what to do for these individuals after they've tried all the meds and therapies that have failed them. There are so many reasons people have this dilemma, nobody talks about it…I do!
What advice would you give to someone building a new dating app, based on your experience?
Based on my experience this far into the game, "make sure you have an amazing/experienced programmer"! It took me four different programmers, and three re-writes to finally market my idea…it's been a loonngg time, and now my website functions and looks great!
Full Disclosure: Courtland Brooks advised Laura (and referred her to her ace programmer)
Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks
Future Of Dating 2050 By eHarmony UK
EHARMONY.CO.UK – Nov 30 – eHarmony's latest white paper about the future of online dating is a collaboration between relationship experts eharmony.co.uk and Imperial College Business School MSc Management students. By 2050, there will be ~8.1M UK residents aged 80 or older. That With increasing life expectancy, the population aged 100+ are expected to climb to 200k people – a jump from 14k in 2017. Come 2050, the market will shift to older generations. The median age of an online dater will reach 47, up from 38 in the present day. By 2050, we can expect ~30% of online daters will be aged 18-35. Young people will still be looking for love online, but the way they do it is likely to change. The natural next step will be dating via VR and AR. Currently, 12% of people aged 65+ met someone via online dating. Come 2050, the proportion of singles aged over 65 meeting people online could be as high as 78%.
Matrimony.com: A Market Leader In Online Matchmaking
FORBES INDIA – Nov 30 – Murugavel Janakiraman's Matrimony.com, launched with an initial focus on the Tamil community, is now a market leader in online matchmaking. BharatMatrimony, has 15 language-based domains; there are other properties like EliteMatrimony, AssistedMatrimony and CommunityMatrimony, offering specialised services. According to comScore, matrimony.com is the leader in the online matchmaking service space in India in terms of the average number of website pages viewed by unique visitors. In June 2017, Matrimony.com's online properties clocked 991K unique visitors, while its competitors Shaadi.com and Jeevansathi.com reported 420K and 348K, respectively. In FY17, the company showed a profit of ₹43.78 crore ($6.6M) on a revenue of ₹292.9 crore ($44M). It also reported a ₹18.8 crore ($2.8) in profit for the quarter ended Sep 30 this year. However, it had a negative net worth of ₹26.79 crore ($4M) for having restated its losses for the financial years 2014, 2015 and 2106, which cumulatively amounted to a loss of ₹87 crore ($13M).
by Anshul Dhamija
See full article at Forbes India
eHarmony CEO, Grant Langston, Joins Online Profile Pros Board Of Directors
NEWSWIRE – Nov 29 – Online Profile Pros, the online personal brand experts, announced Grant Langston, CEO of eHarmony, has joined the Board of Directors. Grant joins the board with a wealth of knowledge in online personal branding as an experienced executive building eHarmony since its inception in 2000. "I'm honored to join Online Profile Pros' Board of Directors. I see firsthand the importance of creating authentic, quality profiles and the impact that can have on people's lives," said Grant Langston, CEO of eHarmony.