Jamie F
Lots of dating app updates this month, with success for a recently-launched US dating app and abject failure for a more established service accused of facilitating ‘sextortion.’
Meanwhile, Tinder has rolled out some helpful warnings to tell you if your in-app chat isn’t respectful or inclusive enough, Tokyo city officials are playing cupid with the capital’s population, and Bumble is working on some empowerment-y stuff related to gyms.
Tinder HAS warned you…
Tinder has started sending warning messages to users about messaging behavior related to “authenticity, respectfulness and inclusiveness”, saying that if you repeatedly don’t take heed from them you risk having your account deleted.
The messages can pop up in the app during conversations with other users if your text chat is deemed to have potentially crossed a line when it comes to Tinder’s community standards. Such behavior could include bullying or harassment.
Tinder has been honed to recognize potentially rule-breaching text chat through AI machine learning, with users giving feedback on chats with matches by answering questions such as “Does this bother you?” within the chats.
Nicole Blumenfeld, Tinder’s Vice President of trust and safety operations, said: “By providing greater transparency to users about their behavior, not only are we enabling them to immediately ‘course correct’ but also foster a better experience for the wider Tinder community.”
…And Belarus is out of Tinder warnings
Meanwhile, Tinder has announced that it will stop working in Belarus from February 23, 2024.
Match Group, which owns Tinder, has not publicly stated why it’s withdrawing from the country, but in May last year, it announced that it would stop working in Russia, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarus is Russia’s closest political partner and has supported its stance of invasion.
Last year an executive director of one of Match Group’s shareholders said: “It’s not a good look for a trusted brand to be continuing operations in a nation where the head of state has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.”
Blush enjoys a flush of success
Los Angeles-based dating app Blush (iOS) is on the up, having launched in October 2023 and just announcing that it’s raised $7 million in a new round of seed funding.
The app, which is currently invite-only, aims to bring dating app use close to ‘in real life’ dating. When you sign up you list your favorite local venues, and you can spend $3.50 to send another user a digital rose, which they can then use for store credit in some LA venues.
Blush is expected to roll out in Miami, New York, Chicago, and Austin soon, and is reportedly working on an AI dating coach function.
Teen-focused Wizz booted off download stores
One dating app doing less well than Blush in 2024 is Wizz: a teen-focused app that has just been removed from both Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) reported the app to Google and Apple, claiming that ‘sextortion’ – the coercion of victims to provide explicit photos before they are extorted – was taking place on Wizz.
Following the removals, Wizz said the app had “extensive safeguards for users,” but it remains in download store purgatory. The NCOSE said Wizz “connected children with strangers, leading to grooming and abuse.”
Tokyo: city of government-approved dating
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is launching its own dating app for citizens in the Japanese capital city, perhaps in an attempt to counter the country’s declining birthrate and aging population.
A web browser version of the app, available to selected users who have taken part in government matchmaking events or are employed by the city, is already available online. A full version is set to be rolled out, based on feedback from the early version.
Reports suggest that the app will utilize AI to assist matches, and will offer a rigorous verification system to help root out fraud and scams. Users will have to prove their marital status and income and take part in an online interview for verification.
Bumble vs ‘gymtimidation’
Bumble and Bumble For Friends have added a ‘gym buddy’ interest badge you can add to your profile, to help facilitate, well, gym buddies.
The ‘women message first’ app launched the function in conjunction with Adidas, with the sports clothes company commissioning research that found that many people supposedly avoid the gym altogether due to feeling ‘gymtimidated’ (i.e. intimidated in a gym, perhaps for not knowing how equipment works or being judged for their appearance).
This isn’t the first time dating and fitness have crossed paths, with some reporting using the running app Strava for meeting romantic interests.
The idea is that if you can find a respectful gym partner through Bumble, you can team up and push through the confidence barrier when you’re manically pedaling on a gym bike or lifting weights or whatnot.
Adidas has used the Bumble team-up to hawk a new range of gym clothes, which no doubt helps ease gymtimidation too.
