It’s another busy time in the world of dating apps, with news about apps for book lovers and anti-woke right wingers, plus important research about photos of small dogs.
Klerb a dating app for book lovers
A dating app designed to be a Tinder of sorts for book lovers is on the way, promising serious new book club potential.
Klerb is being launched by New York-based developer Abe Winter, who insists that his creation isn’t a hook-up app. Instead of sex sessions, Klerb will facilitate literary meet-ups, either between two potential love partners or for a wider potential book group. You’re matched with people based on the similarity of your book collections.
Winter told The Guardian that Tinder “delivers real value to communities by connecting strangers in geographical proximity. I’m trying to bring that model to reading.””
We’re still in an early chapter phase for Klerb, which is yet to launch. The app has just over 1,000 people signed up, and will roll out properly when numbers are high enough for there to be a decent amount of bookish matches.
‘No pronouns necessary’ app imminent
A new dating app aimed at young conservatives in the US is launching in September, sold on an anti-woke promise that there are ‘no pronouns necessary’ in profiles, and that ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ are the only two gender options you can select.
The Right Stuff will offer free premium subscriptions for ladies, with gentlemen expected to have to pay to go premium. The app functions similarly to Tinder (shocker!), with an option to publicize future dates you’d like to go on, including activities and potential calendar dates, advertised to various potential matches.
The promo video for The Right Stuff features a profile showing a woman posing on a golf course with ex-President Donald Trump, who is wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ cap.
The company says the app “was created for conservatives to connect in authentic and meaningful ways. Other dating apps have gone woke. We bring people together with shared values and similar passions.”
Hinge, OKCupid increasing user safetyBoth sites to offer free background checks
Free background checks on matches have been rolled out across Match Group’s dating apps, after they were first tested on Tinder.
The background checks are provided by Garbo, a company that says its mission is to “proactively prevent harm in the digital age through technology, tools, and education”. Subscribers of Match Group apps such as OKCupid, Hinge and Stir can use the service free by inputting information about their matches such as their name, star sign, age and phone number.
The background checks, which were already available on Tinder, will bring up information including whether the person has any violence or harmful arrest convictions or sex offender records.
Kathryn Kosmides, Garbo CEO and founder, told Yahoo Finance: “I think that background checks have existed in some sort, especially since the rise of the internet. I just don’t think that they were a good solution for dating apps.”
She added: “They often will provide really invasive access to personal identifying information like someone’s home address, email address, or phone numbers, and that can be really dangerous, especially if that person is in a vulnerable situation. So we don’t provide access to any of that.”
Plus, It’s official: small dogs mean dates
Researchers have found that women are particularly attracted to men who have small dogs: a tip many guys seem to be aware of anyway, judging by the plethora of pint-sized pooches in dating app photos.
A study conducted at Spain’s Universiy of Jaen had 300 female college students assess photos of men, some of whom were pictured walking with dogs of different sizes
According to The Mirror a researcher said: “The small-sized dog prompts more positive emotional reactivity and higher levels of safety than the medium-sized dog in most emotional contexts, pointing out that emotional and safety benefits from dog presence might also be related to size.”
Downgrade that Saint Bernard to a dachshund, folks.
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