On this episode, Ariel is joined by Dom Whitlock, the Editor of Global Dating Insights and Clubhouse moderator of This Week in Dating.
Interesting Points about Dating Trends:
The dating industry is inclusive in its professional base, and their goal is to be inclusive of different dating populations. Online dating is for everyone--everyone needs to be working together to provide the best online dating experience.
His podcast is the GDI Podcast. There you can see a variety of podcasts in many topics, including Inclusivity and Equity in Dating. The Women in Dating Initiative strives to ensure opportunities for women working in the industry. Online dating is more progressive, and more women are in executive positions in the business, but there is still a long way to go.
The past 18 months have seen the explosion of virtual dating, because people have jumped online to date. The general consensus that people will use a video date as a pre-date before spending money and time to date to figure out if they really have that connection. There is talk of VR and AR dating from a company he is interviewing for his podcast called PlanetBeta.
Another result of the pandemic is that singles are taking time to get more serious, and there are more personality-driven and anti-superficial dating apps coming out at the moment for people to settle down and find the person they are going to marry.
October is the beginning of "cuffing season," the busiest time of the year--for people who want to find someone to have pumpkin spice lattes with during the winter.
Apps that approach dating from a less superficial perspective: S'More; Jigsaw. Matching and messaging happen before people can see each other's pictures.
There is a lot of talk about "Slow Dating:" a response to the Tinder's invention of swipe-based dating in 2014. People are experiencing "swipe fatigue." It only gives a certain number of matches each day--Once gives one match a day. Coffee Meets Bagel gives three or four--the goal is to slow the process down so people can make more informed choices. If you are only talking to 1-2 people at a time, you are not "losing" conversations.
Identity Verification: This is the process of identifying peoples' identities to reduce crime online and false profiles. We discussed why identity verification was so difficult--and it has to do with the sheer amount of work needed to verify millions of people. Scamming and fraud has been a part of the industry for years now, and companies are very aware and are making steps to combat this.
Blue ticks on Instagram and Twitter show that you are who you are--some companies use this as well, and some make it mandatory--requiring their users to complete an identity verification process. Some companies don't. MatchGroup (Match, OK Cupid, Hinge, Tinder, Plenty of Fish) has committed to spending 100 million on trust and safety in the next 12 months. They are pairing with Garbo to do background checks on individuals using public information to check criminal history or a history of violence.
How Dating Sites Make Money:
Trading publicly: 5 companies trade publicly--MatchGroup, Bumble, SparkNetworks, Hello Group, ParshipMeetGroup (2022). They raise capital to direct toward new projects, hiring employees.
Memberships: subscriptions--to make dating easier or increase visibility. "Fremium" model.
Advertising or Partnerships: You can swipe right to find out about about a company.
Hinge's CEO said they would never have advertising on their app because it is counterintuitive to their goal of getting people off the app. Hinge used to draw from your Facebook friends and set you up with their friends, but a few years ago they steered away from that, and their goal is to be the relationship app for Gen Z.
Tinder: Target market is 18-24 year-olds who want a fun experience
Hinge: for people who want a relationship
Dom's Tips:
- There is no "best" dating app.
- The best thing for one person is not the best for someone else. Take the time to research and re-think about what you want to get out of your online dating experience and dig into these platforms and dig into the demographics they are going to target. Pick what works for you.
- You have to be completely honest with yourself and others about what you are looking for. You cannot lie about your age or height--people are not pleased that they have been lied to.
Dating Corporations own groups of dating sites:
In the Western World:
MatchGroup
Bumble
ParshipMeetGroup
SparkNetworks
In Asia:
HelloGroup (they run social networking sites--not just dating--MoMo TanTan)
BlueCity (LGBTQ dating apps)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The online dating industry at the moment is a bit more progressive than a lot of other technology industries. There are a lot more women in high-ranking, executive levels for example. But, if you look at the ratios and the numbers there is still a long long way to go to ensure diversity across the board and there are a lot of organizations working on that to try to build a better future.
- In the past 18 the biggest trend has been the explosion of virtual dating, people jumping on video calls instead of meeting in person. Hopefully – coming towards to end of the pandemic – virtual dating is going to take more of a back seat, but the general consensus is that people will still use video as a pre-date exercise.
- A lot of people have really thought hard about settling down and find the person they’re going to marry, so there are more serious dating apps rather than the casual hook up apps.
- Scamming a fraud has been part of the industry for many years now and probably always will be. It’s going to down to how well the companies manage and tackle it. They are very much aware of the issue and a lot of them are doing things to combat it.
BEST MOMENTS
"You need input from women, men, the LGBTQ community and the heterosexual community because dating is for everyone."
"Virtual dating may evolve into AR and VR dating."
"This is the busiest time of year for online dating, with ‘cuffing season’ upon us."
"Take the time to research and think about what you want out of your online dating experience. Look at the different apps and platforms to figure out the demographics they’re targeting and apply that to what your needs are."
VALUABLE RESOURCES
To order The Empowered Woman's Guide to Online Dating: Set Your BS Tolerance to Zero, go to: https://eworder.replynow.ontraport.net/
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dom Whitlock is the Editor of Global Dating Insights (the online dating's leading trade publication) running for 8 years and the Clubhouse moderator of This Week in Dating.
Socials:
https://www.globaldatinginsights.com
Dom's podcast, The GDI Podcast is also on Spotify/Apple/SoundCloud and is at: https://www.globaldatinginsights.com/category/podcasts/
Clubhouse: Moderator of This Week in Dating Thursdays at 3 PM EST
Instagram: @globaldatinginsights
Twitter: Global_Dating
ABOUT THE HOST
Ariel is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist, Reiki Master, Empath and Psychic who has been involved in holistic healing since 1988. She is also an educator, speaker, author and mentor for empaths, spiritual seekers and medical professionals. To reach Ariel, go to www.arielhubbard.com, where you will be able to contact her directly. Please let her know you heard her on the podcast and the assistance you need or questions you have.
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