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Engadget editors on the highs and lows of online dating
Years ago, getting involved in a relationship with someone you met online was a bit of a taboo. Not only was it supposedly for weirdos, but it was also seen as a bit dangerous, since you couldn't tell who was on the other end. These days, however, online dating is not just mainstream; it's almost expected. Young professionals are often too busy to go to singles clubs and bars (not to mention these venues aren't for everyone) and it's just easier to use an app like Tinder than whip up pickup lines. It turns out that many of the staff at Engadget have quite a bit of experience in the online dating world. From those who met their significant other on the internet well over a decade ago to those who are still exploring this brave new world of digital courtship, we've selected a few stories to share with you. Check out our video above and read on below for more.
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.
The #2015bestnine Instagram meme was made to help launch a dating app
There's a decent chance you saw — and might have gotten annoyed by — a slew of #2015bestnine photo collages mucking up your Instagram feed just before the new year. Well, it turns out 130,000 people using the #2015bestnine app were doing more than just making collages — they were signing up for a secretive new service that turned out to be a dating app called Nine.
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.
Dating app Lulu's controversial guy reviews are no more
When Lulu launched over two years ago, its approach to mobile dating raised more than a few eyebrows. Instead of connecting girls with eligible dudes nearby, the app let them share anonymous reviews of men they knew, complete with hashtags like "#LifeOfTheParty," "#TallDarkAndHandsome" and "#PlaysDigeridoo." Some loved it. Some were mortified. Still others wondered what the service could mean for the future of dating. The answer: apparently not much, because Lulu as we knew it is dead. A few days ago, the company quietly replaced its original app with a new version that cut out all of those juicy reviews in favor of a more generic -- and very familiar -- dating experience.
Tinder's hidden score rates your 'desirability'
If you've used Tinder often enough, you've probably wondered whether there was a science behind who your matches are. Well, it's now certain that there is -- although whether or not you like it is another matter. Tinder tells Fast Company that it gives everyone a hidden "desirability" score based on an algorithm determined by "a lot of factors." The company isn't clear about what those are (trade secrets!), but the suggestion is that it's partly a reflection of how closely you match traits that convince people to swipe right. If you have a fully fleshed-out profile with interesting photos, for example, you may be more alluring than someone who posted the bare minimum and a humdrum profile shot.
Linked love: OKCupid offers options for polyamorous couples
One of OkCupid's biggest advantages versus other matchmaking sites is the seemingly endless amount of dating data its users provide voluntarily in an effort to find a compatible mate. The flip-side of that is OkCupid can use that information to tailor its site to emerging trends -- like offering the option for polyamorous folks to link their profiles to make finding like-minded people easier. Rather than awkwardly creating a joint account or hoping those 11 letters stand out among the rest of your profile text, The Atlantic writes that now those who list themselves as "seeing someone," "married," or "in an open relationship" can link their profiles (similar to Facebook) to eliminate any sort of confusion.
UN says dating apps helped foster a teen HIV epidemic
Dating apps certainly have their virtues, but a new UN study suggests that they could sometimes play a big role in spreading sexually transmitted diseases. The report finds that dating apps helped spread an HIV epidemic among teens in the Asia-Pacific region by facilitating more casual sex. Effectively, they created networks where infections could quickly spread -- one HIV-positive person could easily affect numerous lives.
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.
Dear Veronica: Ice-cold science!
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-434866{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-434866, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-434866{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-434866").style.display="none";}catch(e){}This week on Dear Veronica, I welcome onto the show Dr. Kiki Sanford of This Week in Science. She brilliantly explains the science behind why your whiskey and vodka stays perfectly chilled in your freezer, while your beer completely explodes! Briefly, I wonder why you would bother freezing your whiskey (but I'm not here to judge). Have you tried out online dating? It's a tough scene out there, but I try to help viewer Nick figure out some other ways to meet the match of his dreams. And don't forget, you can "swipe right" on this show by leaving us a review on iTunes! Because you're the best. Keep sending those questions in to me over Twitter with #DearVeronica, and I'll see you next week! Subscribe via iTunes, RSS or YouTube!
This sensor knows if you like anime a little too much
At some point in life, you may have wondered: would you prefer dating an anime character instead of an actual human being? If you're unsure, ROHM's here to help. At CEATEC, the component maker paired up with TECHMAC to show off a dating game featuring a "Tokimeki Sensor" -- "tokimeki" is a Japanese word for "palpitation" that's often associated with dating simulators. The player places his or her hand on a board, with the index fingers placed on an optical palpitation sensor on the back. The subject then faces a flirty anime boy or girl on the left screen for about a minute, followed by its human counterpart on the right, and then the game will determine whether you're into 2D romance instead of 3D. We didn't dare to face the truth, because you know, the heart never lies, but our friend Tim Stevens wasn't so sure about this machine's accuracy.
Tinder adds a third swipe option called 'Super Like'
Tinder is a dating app known for its simplistic swiping system: Swipe right if you're into someone's profile and swipe left if you're not feeling it. But, love isn't that simple. It requires at least one more swipe. Today, Tinder is rolling out the option to swipe up and "Super Like" someone's profile -- it'll be available first in Australia, with a global release scheduled for later this year. Users are granted a limited number of Super Likes, and people who receive an upward swipe will be notified by "the presence of a blue footer on a given profile," Tinder explains. Instead of swiping, users can also just tap the new blue star icon to Super Like someone's profile.
Ashley Madison insists that real women use its affair service
That Gizmodo investigation of leaked data suggesting that most of the women on Ashley Madison's affair-seeking service were fake? Completely bogus... if you ask Ashley Madison. It claims that there are plenty of real live women on the site -- the ratio of paying men to active women (who get to use it for free) is reportedly 1.2 to 1, and women sent 2.8 million messages just in the past week. Gizmodo made "incorrect assumptions" about what some of the data fields meant, Ashley Madison says. Whether or not that's true, you'll want to keep the data in context. The service isn't outlining the ratio of real to fake women, so it's not clear whether real women are bountiful or needles in the proverbial haystack.
Ashley Madison leaked data is now searchable (but don't)
If you just returned from an isolated island vacation (or perhaps you live under a particularly sweet and naïve rock structure), you may not have heard that notorious "dating service" Ashley Madison was hacked. The controversial site is billed as a social network and dating service for married people looking for extramarital affairs. The hacked data has been publicly released, and services that search for the email addresses used on Ashley Madison's site immediately began to populate the web.
Tinder adds verified profiles for people way out of your league
Just like Twitter and Facebook, Tinder is stepping into verified profiles for "notable public figures." Those semi-celebrities will get a blue check mark on their profiles and, consequently, perhaps more attention than they'd like. Tinder announced last year that it was exploring verified profiles for celebrities, but it looks like the feature has taken a while to get up and running. The company isn't offering any details on how people can sign up for verified profiles, but former CEO Sean Rad hinted that it might be based on your Facebook verification status. We'll likely start hearing about the process from the Chosen Ones soon. Overall, it's a pretty unsurprising move for Tinder, since it will help prevent imposters from posing as notable people. But it'll be interesting to see how that little blue check mark starts affecting the service. Swipe right, and pray.
'Sailor Moon' in a post-apocalyptic pigeon-dating simulator
Hatoful Boyfriend is a pigeon-dating simulator. You read that correctly and, yes, it means exactly what it sounds like. However, Hatoful Boyfriend is also much more than a pigeon-dating simulator: It's a dark tale of science experiments gone awry and a formerly human world now run by birds. In Hatoful Boyfriend -- released on Steam in September and on its way to PlayStation 4 and Vita this year -- you play as a young (human) woman and uncover truly terrifying things about this strange new avian world. Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star is a new game in the same pigeon-dating universe, due to hit PS4, Vita and PC this fall. As Mediatonic Producer Luke Borrett explains direct from E3 2015, Holiday Star features even wackier stories, including scenes reminiscent of Sailor Moon, a trip to a manga convention and birds in tanks. Watch a portion of our interview with Borrett below.
Tinder lets you judge a person's Instagram skills before swiping right
If stellar smartphone photo skills are something you look for in a potential significant other, Tinder's redesigned profiles are ready lend a hand. The dating app now pipes in a collection of your Instagram snapshots right on that profile page -- so there's no longer a need to include that username in your profile details. Tinder only displays the last 34 photos, but if someone just can't get enough of your brunch and puppy pics, they can venture out to the app for a look at the full library. The update also shows Common Connections when you're browsing and a full list of Facebook interests, highlighting any matches. If you haven't been alerted to the new version just yet, it's available on both iOS and Android now.
Tinder hack pairs straight guys together, awkward flirting ensues
Tinder is sometimes hilarious. Tinder sometimes makes you despair for humanity. And would you believe it, Tinder sometimes leads to genuine, loving relationships. But back to the first point: what happens if you pit two unwitting heterosexual males against each other, when both think the other is a for-real woman? What do you think?
