KOLD.COM – Mar 11 – A recent report from socialcatfish.com says ~32,700 Americans fell victims to online romance scams in 2020. The victims' financial losses accumulated to a record $304M. Social Catfish says the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 51% annual increase in online romance scams last year due to loneliness and isolation.
Month: March 2021
92M Young Adults in China Live Alone
INSIDER – Mar 11 – 15M more Chinese singles have opted to live alone over the last 3 years. This phenomenon could hurt China's birth rate, according to a People.cn article. Debate is swirling around whether these singles are doing so by choice, or due to circumstances beyond their control. Chinese news site Dazhong did a poll to find out. 41% of those polled cited the main reason as being "actively choosing to be single, and tiring of useless romantic entanglements." Another 38% said being an "empty nest youth" was also a choice made by those "escaping from the responsibilities of starting a family." 13% said that they were forced to live alone due to "life and economic pressures," while 7% said it was because they were "unable to find true love."
Chinese Women in Big Cities Prefer Online Dating
WOMENOFCHINA – Mar 11 – According to Tantan's recent survey of 4K women in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, dating apps have become an essential social tool for single women in metropolitan areas. The higher a woman earns, the more active she is in online dating. 40% used Tantan to become acquainted with their dates, 15% were in love more than once via Tantan, and 42% used Tantan to make friends.
by Xu Lin
See full article at WomenofChina
BharatMatrimony Launched “What Women Really Want” Campaign
NEWS PATROLLING – Mar 11 – BharatMatrimony conducted an interesting experiment asking single women why they were not on a matrimony app and attempted to understand their concerns about what held them back from seeking a match online. The #WhatWomenReallyWant campaign for Women's Day started with social posts by women airing their concerns, followed by detailed video interviews with some of them which then culminated in a final video.
Interview With Bumble CEO – “Making Relationships Better for Everybody”
CNN – Mar 10 – CEO and Founder of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd speaks to Christiane Amanpour about how she is changing the online dating landscape for women. "Technology has this remarkable ability to either perpetuate behavior or to rewrite it," Whitney said. "I was very dissatisfied with the way relationships were set for women. By giving women more control, we are leveling the playing field and stabilizing the situation for everyone. This reduces harassment and rejection. "Why not have consequences for bad behavior? … When you make relationships better for women, you make relationships better for everybody."
Here Comes India’s First Vernacular Dating App
DTNEXT – Mar 9 – Aisle, India's second most downloaded dating app, has launched its vernacular dating app 'Arike', for Malayalees residing in and out of India. It has features which are culturally specific to Malayalees, starting from a logo which is inspired by the first letter of the Malayalam language icon. Aisle has also recently launched its premium feature 'Concierge' with an aim to offer curated matchmaking.
Q&A With Lori Cheek, Founder and CEO of Cheekd
TECH ROUND – Mar 9 – After setting up a profile and filters, Cheekd will send users' notifications when a potential is nearby. And because Cheekd uses Bluetooth, it doesn't require an Internet connection. Users will get a notification if someone who meets their criteria is within 30 feet of them.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the company?
A: In 2008, I was out to dinner with a colleague. He'd spotted an attractive woman and scribbled, "Want to have dinner?" on the back of his business card and slipped it to her as we were leaving the restaurant. He left with a date. I left with an idea. I launched Cheekd – a deck of ice-breaking dating cards with a unique code that lead the recipient to the privacy protected online dating profile. We've since pivoted Cheekd into a hyper-speed app that gives singles the ability to never miss a real-life potential "love connection."
Q: What can we hope to see from Cheekd in the future?
A: My plan is to expand and create a spin off tp allow users to have a more organic, yet virtual way, of making connections for anything from business, networking, fitness, friendship or hobbies.
by Dana Leigh
See full article at Tech Round
BLK to Host Online Content Series Featuring Trailblazing Black Women
PR NEWSWIRE – Mar 9 – BLK, the largest dating app made for Black singles, has announced its live online content series, titled "Connection, Community & Conversation." The first installment, titled "How to Mobilize Your Black Girl Magic to Excel in Life, Love and Career", will include weekly discussions featuring Rox Brown, Sesali Bowen, Aisha Bowe and Kitty Ca$h. The weekly Live series will occur on Wednesdays at 8pm EST, starting today (Mar 10) on BLK's Instagram page (@meet_blk).
10 Million Users: Taimi Marks a Major Milestone
BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 9 – After just 2.5 years on the market, Taimi proves to be the fastest-growing LGBTQ+ platform, reaching 10M worldwide users in late March 2021. Taimi grew its userbase from 3.5M in Jan 2020 to 9M in Dec 2020. According to Sensor Tower's 2021 "The State of Dating Apps 2021" Report, Taimi made the list of Top-10 most downloaded dating apps in the U.S.
CarpeDM Is a New Dating App Dedicated to Helping Black Women Find Love
YOUR TANGO – Mar 9 – Racial discrimination against Black women plays out in every aspect of life, even in online dating. CarpeDM, a dating community created by and for professional Black women is here to change the dating landscape. For founder Naza Shelley, an attorney-turned-entrepreneur, CarpeDM is more than just a business venture. It was an idea born from need. "Statistically, we get less engagement on dating apps," says Shelley. "Next to Asian men, Black women are considered to be the least desirable to date by other ethnic groups." As well as getting matches through the app's algorithm, women can connect with matchmakers who provide highly selected matches and plenty of relationship guidance. CarpeDM is available to download now on iOS – Android coming soon – with matchmaking expected to take place by summer 2021.