Month: December 2019

AI Finding Role as Matchmaker in Japan

Posted on December 30, 2019

Zwei using ai to match peopleKYODO NEWS – Dec 30 – AI and other cutting-edge technologies are starting to play a matchmaking role as they find their ways into people's lives in Japan. AI devices are being employed to give people a picture of their potential mates along with everything about them. Matchmaking agency Zwei held a konkatsu (spouse hunting) party in June, at which participants wore wristbands. When they shook hands with each other, their profiles appeared on a tablet computer, facilitating conversation. Zwei adopted AI technology in April, called "intra-body communication," which starts or stops communication with human contact. The use of the technology has improved the success rate of matchmaking by 10 to 20%, according to Zwei. Akita in northeastern Japan may be known for its Akita bijin, or beauties of Akita. But the prefectural government will begin an AI-based matchmaking service in January in a bid to raise the marriage rate there, which is the lowest among Japan's 47 prefectures.

See full article at Japan Today

Sharon Stone Blocked From Bumble

Posted on December 30, 2019

Screenshot_2019-12-30 Sharon Stone blocked from Bumble dating appTHE GUARDIAN – Dec 30 – Writing on Twitter, the actor complained to the dating app Bumble that she had been blocked from the service after her account was deemed to be fake. Bumble's editorial director Clare O'Connor replied to Stone, unblocking her account and apologizing for the error.

by Ben Beaumont-Thomas
See full article at The Guardian

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Personals Instagram Account Became Wildly Popular for Its Queer Personal Ads

Posted on December 30, 2019

Lex iconWASHINGTON POST – Dec 27 – After starting in 2017, Personals Instagram page became a hugely popular place for people to meet a partner or to make a friend, attracting 60K followers. Last month, founder Kelly Rakowski took the next step of turning it into its own app, Lex, creating a rare queer-centric platform for romance and friendship. Lex was financed by a Kickstarter campaign that raised $50K. The profiles look similar to those on Personals – minimalist, no photos – but users can message privately and set geographic boundaries.

by Anying Guo
See full article at Washington Post

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Billboard for ‘White People’ Dating App Stirs up Controversy

Posted on December 30, 2019

Wherewhitepeoplemeet website screenshotOPPOSING VIEWS – Dec 28 – People passing by a West Valley City billboard were in for a surprise. The billboard advertised the dating service WhereWhitePeopleMeet.com. According to the site's founder; "Our intentions in creating this dating site were never meant to be racist or biased in any way. In fact, my personal views are those of tolerance, love, acceptance and understanding." The site was launched in early 2016.

See full article at Opposing Views

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Facebook Dating Isn’t Feeling the Love in the U.S.

Posted on December 27, 2019

Facebook dating profile creationADWEEK – Dec 27 – 57% of survey respondents hadn't heard of Facebook Dating, while just 9% were using it, according to a recent survey by global opinion platform Piplsay. Piplsay polled 21K Americans. Respondents who knew about Facebook Dating weren't exactly champing at the bit, as 60% said they were uninterested because there are so many other dating apps, while 18% found it to be better than other dating apps. 16% of millennials were using Facebook Dating, compared with 12% of Generation Z. 50% of respondents didn't trust Facebook to keep their personal data safe on Facebook Dating, while 27% were unsure and just 23% trusted the social network.

by David Cohen
See full article at Adweek

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IAC to Spin-Off Match Group by Q2 ’20

Posted on December 27, 2019

Matchgroup portfolioFORBES – Dec 27 – As part of this transaction, MTCH shareholders will receive one share of New Match and $3/share in consideration (which they can choose to receive in cash or additional shares of New Match worth $3), while IAC will receive ~$680M ($3/share) in cash. IAC shareholders will receive 2.35 MTCH shares per IAC share. If MTCH public shareholders choose to receive their consideration in the form of MTCH shares, additional cash of $160M will be paid to IAC, reducing the distribution ratio to 2.32. IAC may potentially sell New Match equity shares worth $1.5B, the proceeds of which will be paid to IAC. IAC will transfer its complete debt of $1.7B to New Match, while MTCH will borrow $500M to fund the cash consideration of $840M ($680M + $160M). The transaction is expected to be completed by Q2 '20.

by Joe Cornell
See full article at Forbes

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Could Tencent Topple Momo as the “Tinder of China”?

Posted on December 26, 2019

Tencent logoTHE MOTLEY FOOL – Dec 25 – Tencent, the Chinese tech giant, has unveiled three new dating apps over the past few months. Tencent rules China's mobile messaging market with WeChat, which serves 1.15B monthly active users. Meanwhile, Momo is the top online dating platform in China. Momo's smaller app, Tantan, is a Chinese clone of Tinder. Momo's core app had 114.1M MAUs last quarter, and 13.4M of them bought virtual gifts or signed up for premium dating services on Momo and Tantan. Tencent recently launched an anonymous video dating app called Maohu, a Tinder-like app called Qingliao ("Light Chat"), and a reboot of its Pengyou ("Friends") app as a social network with an opt-in dating feature. What's Tencent up to? WeChat's MAUs grew 6% annually last quarter, but it's only a matter of time before this ubiquitous "super app" runs out of room to grow in China. Meanwhile, Gen Z-oriented rivals like ByteDance's TikTok and Bilibili are attracting younger users, while WeChat seems shackled to its reputation as an app for older users. Simply put, Tencent needs new ways to reach younger users, and Momo's streak of double-digit revenue growth suggests that online dating is still a fertile market. Investors shouldn't assume that Tencent will crush Momo yet, since Momo still enjoys a first mover's advantage in the market. However, investors should keep a close eye on Tencent's three new apps – and see if they pull users away from Momo and Tantan.

by Leo Sun
See full article at The Motley Fool

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POF Was Leaking Users’ Hidden Names and Zip Codes

Posted on December 26, 2019

Pof logo 2019 higher resolutionTECH CRUNCH – Dec 23 – The leaking data was not immediately visible to app users, and the data was scrambled to make it difficult to read. But using freely available tools designed to analyze network traffic, the security researcher found it was possible to reveal the information about users as their profiles appeared on his phone. POF has ~150M registered users.

by Zack Whittaker
See full article at Tech Crunch

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1.6M Britons Broke up Over Brexit

Posted on December 26, 2019

Brexit breakupsTHE BIG SMOKE – Dec 23 – eHarmony discovered that 1.6M Britons broke up because of Brexit-based disagreements. Opposing political views led to ~2.7M people throughout the UK ending a relationship in the last year. Online dating profiles that mentioned Brexit – either positively or negatively – received up to 90% more messages than the average member.

See full article at The Big Smoke

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