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The incredibly sad world of niche dating apps
When I exited the market in 2006, online dating was akin to wearing sweatpants in the club. It was a sign that you'd given up on the "real" world; a symbol of existential surrender.
Ohlala's 'paid dates' app debuts in New York City
Valentine's Day for single folks can be a pretty touchy subject. But New Yorkers who don't have qualms about exchanging money for short-term companionship have an alternative option in Ohlala. It recently launched in Gotham and offers men and women the option of paying for a "date." From the look of things, it's a bit like a cross between Tinder and Uber.
Tinder bans users for sending pro-Bernie Sanders messages
Campaigning for Bernie Sanders, and presumably any other politician, can get you banned from Tinder. According to a report from Reuters, two users of the dating app learned that the hard way recently, after their accounts were locked for sending private messages about the 2016 presidential candidate. One woman, for example, told the publication she sent 60 messages per day to other people on Tinder, as she hoped to convince them to support Senator Sanders.
Tinder adds GIF support to show matches what you really mean
It doesn't seem like Tinder's done anything with Tappy, the photo messaging app it acquired last year, but the hook-up application has added a new feature that takes advantage of the internet's favorite image format: GIFs. Thanks to a partnership with Giphy, now you have the option of sending GIFs to your potential mate. More than that, you can "like" a message to indicate, well, that you were into what the person on the other side was layin' down. There's a video of it all in action below, wherein you'll find a guy whose spelling and grammar are somehow more questionable than his choice in haircuts.
Online love with OKCupid and Tinder peaks at 9 PM
OKCupid might send out email blasts telling you to log in during a rainstorm because that's when the site's apparently busiest in any given location, but Nielsen wants you to know when the best time is to log in, period. For the dating website, the uptick starts at 6 PM, peaks at 9 PM and falls off sharply starting at 10 PM according to The Huffington Post. Those rainy-night emails? In my case, they arrive just after 7 PM. Surprisingly, the more fling-favorable Tinder is busiest at the same times as OKCupid in terms of unique audience, with over 50 percent of users beginning their swipe-fests during primetime.
Sex censorship breeds a fetish-focused social network
She lay back on a tan leather chaise lounge in a luxury suite in a Las Vegas hotel, a VR headset covering her eyes, surrounded by strangers and coworkers. She squirmed with embarrassment, screamed, giggled and covered her already-obstructed eyes. Engadget's Director of Production, Heather Frank, was experiencing the future of pornography firsthand, and I captured it all for posterity. When I went to add the video to my collection of #VRPorn reaction posts, I did what any socially responsible millennial would and asked our hosts for their Instagram handle. As it turns out, Instagram was a touchy subject.
Grindr sells majority stake to a Chinese gaming company
The majority stake of gay dating app Grindr is now in the hands of Beijing Kunlun, a Chinese gaming firm. The company will pick up 60 percent of the app, which it valued at $155 million. "We have users in every country in the world, but in order to get to the next phase of our business and grow faster, we needed a partner," Carter McJunkin, chief operating officer of Grindr. Mr. McJunkin told the NYT the pairing made sense for Grindr because the gaming company agreed to let the app's founders continue its current structure and keep the existing team. The gay dating app is available across 196 countries and has become one of leading gay dating apps. However, Grindr consistently scores low in user reviews. Many users cite issues with spam bots and persistent bugs — problems that Beijing Kunlun's "digital expertise" might help solve.
Gay dating app Grindr is hosting a fashion show this Sunday
Apparently there comes a time in every (allegedly) salacious dating app's life where it tries shedding its perceived sins by going mainstream. For Grindr, that's being the exclusive live-streaming option for a show at the upcoming London Collections Men event. This Sunday the gay-male-focused, location-based application will host J.W. Anderson's menswear fall 2016 show. But according to The New York Times, you won't be watching the runway from within the app itself -- users will get a link and a code to watch on a mobile browser. Grindr's VP of marketing, Landis Smithers, says that for a portion of the app's users, fashion is a pretty big deal and future projects like this could include music and night life.
Let's talk about sex: This is Computer Love
Computer Love is a semi-regular column exploring the weird world of human sexuality in the 21st century. That's me four months ago, emerging from the frozen tomb of a near decade-long relationship. OK, that's Brendan Fraser, but when I finally surfaced from the cold-comfort coffin of love lost, I was thrust into a strange new world, where courtship starts with a dick pic, dating is done by phone and text messages are the preferred mode of romantic communique.
Meat your match with this Tinder-swiping steak
Dating apps are often characterized as 21st century "meat markets" and, thanks to this Dutch art installation, Tinder's getting uncomfortably close the real thing. The piece, appropriately called Tender, was built by four students at Leiden University in the Netherland. It's scheduled to debut at the Habitat art exhibition at Radion Amsterdam next weekend. But don't worry about getting hooked up with cold cuts, the app is actually a Tinder knockoff called 6Tin and that's an instant dealbreaker. [Image Credit: The Ministry of Gifs]
Grindr now shows an ETA to your next hookup
Relax everybody: Grindr is going to make finding a potential partner a much simpler affair. You see, now the app will calculate travel time in addition to how far away a potential Lothario is from you, physically. So let's say you've been messaging with Dylan for the past few days, but now that you know he's 45 minutes away that might change the situation a bit -- especially when your fall-back, Bryan, is only a five-minute walk from your apartment. That could affect your evening's plans considerably we'd imagine ('in a quarter-mile, turn right and smile). The app's update also makes swipe-navigation between chats and profiles free for everyone, whereas before it was limited to those paying for Grindr Xtra.
