Category: Outlets – Washington Post

Arranged Marriage Remains The Norm In India

Posted on May 3, 2017

WASHINGTON POST – May 2 – "A Suitable Girl," a new documentary film, which premiered at last week's Tribeca Film Festival, follows Amrita, Ritu and Dipti, three young, middle-class women in India, as they approach their respective arranged marriages. The film's directors, Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra, who are both Indian American women and won the festival's award for new documentary director, are trying to overturn stereotypes about arranged marriage. Despite the major changes and modernization India has undergone in the 70 years since its independence, cultural norms toward marriage haven't changed much. None of them thought [remaining single] was an option, or could imagine their lives as unmarried women in Indian society.

Mark Brooks: I recently went to Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai to film a mini-documentary about Indian dating apps vs matrimony services. The ~40 minute movie will 'premier' at the Internet Dating Conference on June 1st at 5pm.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

How Much People Spend On Their Dating Life

Posted on April 14, 2017

Dating-costs-jpgWASHINGTON POST – Apr 13 – The average unmarried American spent $1,596 on their dating life in 2016, according to a Match survey of 5,500 singles around the country. In Washington, it was $1,788; in New York, $2,069. This average includes bar tabs and dating site memberships, but also haircuts, manicures and new date outfits; entrance fees to dating events and money spent on matchmakers. Men spent more ($1,855 on average) than women ($1,423).

by Lisa Bonos
See full article at Washington Post

See all posts on Match.com

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Why Using Tinder Is So Satisfying

Posted on February 14, 2017

Tinder app on screenWASHINGTON POST – Feb 14 – According to app analytics website AppAnnie, Tinder has been the most downloaded lifestyle app in America for two years. Tinder's approach to romance is straightforward, yet brutally effective. Matches are made using sparse criteria: Looks, availability and location. Tinder's interface is perfectly constructed to encourage rapid swiping. Since users don't know which swipe will bring the "reward" of a match, Tinder uses a variable ratio reward schedule, which means that potential matches will be randomly dispersed. It's the same reward system used in slot machines. In a study on the brains of drug addicts, researchers found that the expectation of the drug caused more release of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine than the actual drug itself. Similarly, for those who may be expecting the next swipe on Tinder to lead to reward, serial swiping can start to look and feel a lot like addiction. So in 2015 Tinder began to limit the amount of daily right swipes to 100 for users who don't buy into their premium service.

by Jeanette Purvis
See full article at Washington Post

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

What Is It Like To Date While Blind?

Posted on January 9, 2017

Visually impaired picWASHINGTON POST – Jan 9 – Jolliff, 29, has been blind since birth due to what's known as Leber Congenital Amaurosis. She can distinguish lights from darks, and her seeing-eye dog helps her navigate the world. Yet her dog can't help her swipe right or left on Tinder. So she seeks romance elsewhere. Last fall, Jolliff signed up for eHarmony and OkCupid. "I want the 'deeper' connection. I like being able to see how much effort a guy is willing to put into crafting his profile." Both Tinder and Coffee Meets Bagel, two popular dating apps, have done little to accommodate the blind or visually impaired community. Tinder's VP of global communications branding, Rosette Pambakian, declined to comment, saying she didn't think it "makes sense" to include Tinder in a story about visually impaired daters. Dawoon Kang, COO of Coffee Meets Bagel, said she hadn't given blind or visual impairments much consideration. But she's open to it.

by Alexandra E. Petri
See full article at Washington Post

Mark Brooks: This Washington Post reporter appears to have not appreciated Tinder's refusal to comment. Granted, its not the easiest question to handle. This is where the help of a trusted intermediary can come in handy. When I handle press calls for my clients I act as an analyst, and am quoted as such. The press trust me to guide them to the right spokespeople, and to guide them on the 'fit' of their subject matter. Please see CourtlandBrooks.com.

See all posts on eHarmony          See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on OkCupid             See all posts on Coffee Meets Bagel

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Dating Apps Will Get More Selective

Posted on January 6, 2017

Dating apps iconsWASHINGTON POST – Jan 6 – Dating experts are calling 2016 a bad year for dating trends. Having constant access to a pool of potential matches at their fingertips is making people more impatient, causing unrealistic expectations for first dates and a general decline in effort. There are so many dating apps, the market is getting saturated and daters are feeling overwhelmed. So online dating is trending toward niche apps. Julie Spira, founder of CyberDatingExpert.com, believes that 2017 will see more of a push for people to meet in real life. She predicts a rise in apps like Whim, which skips the pre-date conversation and immediately matches people for meetups.

by Sarah Polus
See full article at Washington Post

See all posts on Julie Spira

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Hinge Not Ready For A Serious Relationship

Posted on November 9, 2016

Hinge logo new 2016WASHINGTON POST – Nov 8 – Distancing itself from casual hookups, Hinge now identifies as the go-to "relationship app," targeting "people who are looking for meaningful connections." New Hinge profiles include photos, basic information, and tidbits about users' personalities and interests. Rather than swiping, users interact by "liking" or commenting on photos, or answering icebreaker questions. One major flaw stood out though: Not one of Hinge's icebreaker prompts or questions encourages users to directly explain what they seek in a partner — romantically, sexually or personally. More important, Hinge's sample answers are nearly all indirect, if not trite. If Hinge's goal is to build meaningful connections and committed relationships, then why are their icebreakers so trivial? Comparatively, "older" sites such as OkCupid use direct questions about users' romantic and sexual preferences to build matches based on direct indicators of compatibility.

by Leah Fessler
See full article at Washington Post

See all posts on Hinge

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Hinge Is Bashing Swipe Apps

Posted on October 5, 2016

Hinge dating apocalypse website screenshotWASHINGTON POST – Oct 3 – On Hinge's Dating Apocalypse site, visitors can click through stats about swipe apps like Hinge and Tinder. For example: "81% of Hinge users have never found a long-term relationship on any swiping app"; "only 1 in 500 swipes on Hinge turn into phone numbers exchanged"; and "4 out of 5 Hinge users can't recall the first name of their last right swipe." An FAQ on Hinge's website says "we realized the world of mindless swiping was ruining romance." That's pretty strong language for an app that has been part of the swipe machine since its early days. Hinge's new version for more relationship-minded is set to debut Oct 11th.

by Lisa Bonos
See full article at Washington Post

See all posts on Hinge

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Why Do People Swipe Right On Each Other, But Then Never Connect

Posted on July 26, 2016

Tinder studyWASHINGTON POST – July 26 – A preliminary new study from researchers at Queen Mary University of London, Sapienza University of Rome, and the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group collected data on just how bad this phenomenon is. The researchers say that men seem to be much less discriminating.  They're more likely to swipe right, but also much less likely to follow through with a message. Women tend to swipe right when they're serious about connecting. Men take dating apps less seriously. It's riskier for women to reach out. Women are less proactive on dating apps.

by Jeff Guo
See full article at Washington Post

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Why Some People End Up With Partners Who Are More Attractive

Posted on May 5, 2016

Keyboard2WASHINGTON POST – May 3 – In general, couples tend to be more similar than two randomly selected people. Scientists call this "assortative mating". In a study published last year in the journal Psychological Science, researchers offered an explanation for when and where couples of mixed attractiveness are most likely to arise. The study found that heterosexual couples who were friends before they dated were more likely to be rated at different attractiveness levels. Those who met each other and started dating within a month had relatively similar levels of attractiveness.

by Ana Swanson
See full article at Washington Post

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team