MASHABLE – Feb 8 – According to this TED-Ed video, all five our senses play a role when it comes to physical attraction. Sight is the most obvious, though the perception of visual beauty can change dramatically once someone starts talking. More and more, however, attraction is being defined by the way someone makes us feel, and that is driven by how two people spark off each other. It can be that undefined reason why we instinctively flirt with one person and not another. According to eHarmony's study of ~1K Australian singles, the three ingredients for 'the spark' include: Easy flow of conversation, how much the person makes you laugh and how quickly you feel at ease around them. 50% of Australian singles expect sparks to fly by the end of the first date, and only 12% believe it's something that can develop over time. Long term happiness seems to blossom when there is more similarity.
Category: Outlets – Mashable
Why Is Australia Tinder’s Favourite Testing Ground?
MASHABLE – Jan 31 – It has a relatively small population, it's English-speaking and it has an estimated smartphone penetration of 84%. Also, Australians take to product updates faster than other markets. Australia is also culturally similar to its primary locations like the United States. Tinder is not alone in using Australia as a technology laboratory. Facebook also trials some product updates on Australian users before rolling them out broadly. In 2016, it ran video with autoplay sound in August in Australia, and its Snapchat-esque disappearing video feature Messenger Day in October. Tinder is not looking only for adoption but feedback.
Tinder Founder Responds To Muslim Ban
MASHABLE – Jan 31 – Like so many other Americans, Tinder founder Sean Rad is the child of immigrants. His parents are originally from Iran. Tinder has employees in the U.S. who are not citizens, but Rad said everyone is secure for now. By speaking on the topic, Rad is adding his voice to a swath of Silicon Valley leaders, from Twitter's Jack Dorsey to Uber's Travis Kalanick, who have commented on the ban in recent days.
Bumble Matched 400K Friends And Raised $40K For Planned Parenthood
MASHABLE – Jan 30 – Bumble BFF, the friendfinder side of Bumble, the female friendly dating app, donated 10 cents for every mate match they made. It was done as part of a 12-hour campaign, and in that time there were 438,790 BFF matches.
Winkd: A New LGBTQ Dating App
MASHABLE – Jan 16 – Winkd is a soon-to-be launched dating app built for the LGBTQ community. On Winkd, users check into a location, be it a park or a LGBTQ night club, and they can see who else has checked in. Users indicate interest by "winking" at someone on the app, and if there's a match, the chat window stays live for 20 minutes. Unlike Tinder, the app won't list the user's name or age on their profile – it will only be revealed once users match.
Hinge Adds Photo Captions
How The iPhone Revolutionized Mobile Dating
by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable
Mark Brooks: The shift to mobile is a media shift that was long overdue. The writing was on the wall back in 2006. But the apps sucked, the infrastructure sucked, early apps had to deal with 100+ different phones on so many carrier platforms that were unduly complicated. This was the great opportunity that Apple saw, and conquered, and Google copied. The big question for the dating industry now is, what's next. Just what media shift might happen next? I'm watching my 7-8 year old kids for signs of what they're drawn to. I think we'll see AR/VR and wearables rise to revolutionize our industry once more, in about ten years.
Tinder Trolls CES By Pitching A Regular Reality Headset
MASHABLE – Jan 6 – At the Consumer Entertainment Show (CES) on Thursday, Tinder “launched” Tinder VR, a “multiuser VR” experience that is actually just two people wearing a big headset and having a face-to-face conversation.
Introducing #TinderVR. See you in the real world. #CES2017 https://t.co/SfnqKghIjQ pic.twitter.com/webrDtnxao
— Tinder (@Tinder) January 5, 2017
AirDates.com Is A New Inflight Dating App
MASHABLE – Dec 10 – AirDates.co is like Tinder but for air travelers looking for a connection before, during or after a trip. AirDates' CEO and founder Michael Richard said the app is not exactly promoting joining the so-called Mile High Club, but more about "making connections in the air." The app is only in beta, but already it's taken off after appearing at the Disrupt London conference. The London-based app is available for iOS, but will be more widely distributed and updated by February.
Hinge Abandons Tinder Model
MASHABLE – Oct 11 – On Tuesday, Hinge relaunched from a free swiping app into a members-only app for $7/month. In addition to charging a fee — which CEO McLeod said helps users consider the app to be more of a commitment — Hinge has been completely redesigned. Mark Brooks, an online dating app consultant, said that Hinge’s team was smart to no longer compete with Tinder and other free apps. “There’s not much point in being a copycat. They need to be known for something, or they will end up not being known for anything,” Brooks said. “Going serious and paid is a bold move, and a good move. They won’t see as high traffic as Tinder, but I think they will see revenues, and users interested in meaningful relationships.”