New Media in Love

Love

"Love" is the English word that describes the intense feeling of deep affection towards a person or thing. It is commonly expressed between those dear to heart like parents, siblings, family in general, friends, and significant others. Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts. Love may be understood as a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

Definition

The Origin of the word love is derived from the Old English word "leof", which means 'dear' and the Middle English word "lufu". It also is related to the German word "luba". The Romans used the Latin words "lubere" and "libere", meaning to please to express love. The word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Many other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on "love" to encapsulate. One example is the plurality of Greek words for "love." Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus doubly impede the establishment of a universal definition.

Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't love. Love as a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like) is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships. To experience desire or take pleasure in something is a form of love. In the context of a sexual relationship, love can be the attraction shared by lovers based on sexual desire.

LDR (Long Distance Relationship)

A LDR or a long distance relationship is where two people meet online or during a specific time period but are geographically separated from another. A long distance romantic relationship requires an enormous amount of trust and communication. If these two requirements aren't met, the relationship will not work out smoothly. The lack of physical contact can cause potential issues such as not being able to physically see what your significant other is doing. According to a research shown on the nypost.com on 2018, long distance relationships have a 58% success rate. Many people still take part in long distance relationships depending how much they are willing to invest in their love. But, how much you invest isn't everything because your partner must also be willing to invest the same amount of love and effort to keep the relationship living.

Finding Love Through New Media

In the past couple of years, there has been an increase in long-distance relationships. That can be explained by the increase in dating websites as well as the convenience some people feel of having a partner who is not nearby. The dating websites do not limit people to long-distance relationships, in fact they try to promote finding someone who is as close to you as possible (physically and emotionally). There's no denying the impact technology has made on our relationships, including the most significant ones. Last year more than one-third of new marriages started online. The world of online dating is evolving along with the rest of social media.

As humans evolved through time and we have inevitably taken on more tasks and goals asides from our basic instincts like eat, survive and mate to reproduce. Today we want love, connection, happiness and above all to be able to share those feelings with a potential mate. Dating websites are used as a way to connect people with potential mates. In the past couple of years, there has been a change in the way that people use dating sites. Dating sites are becoming aware that some people use these sites for other purposes besides finding love. A significant percentage of these users are seeking friends and/or business partners. Marriage is no longer a priority for most people that use these dating sites.There's a new wave of dating sites that combine getting people together and networking. This new wave of "social dating networks" is introducing people to a more engaging way to find love and make connections.

However, these dating sites don't always lead to happy endings because so much can end up happening. People begin to date via the use of these online sites and tend to lose the face to face interaction. Dating someone online you don't, in reality, know who that other person may be. These dating sites have become a trend and people view this dating more positively. Studies have shown that online daters tend to be more liberal and it's a great way to meet potential partners. Online dating is actually easier than actual dating. Also, these sites have become very popular through its advertisement, marketing and most importantly its price. People that use these sites don't struggle its very easy to use and most relationships are successful.

The Match Group

Match Group, Inc. – is a public company traded on NASDAQ: ticker symbol MTCH The company owns and operates more than 40 online dating sites Including some of the industry’s largest companies. The company’s main assets are Match.com, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, Our Time and Tinder. Its headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas.

The Match group is the industry’s largest companies it currently accounts for 1.2 billion of the Industries 2.7 Billion dollars in revenue. [] Its CEO states the company’s success is attributed to its ability to acquire, manage and develop companies. In 2015 the Group acquired Plenty of Fish for $575 Million. In 2012 the popular dating app, Tinder was created out of a Match group run business incubator.

Match.com

Match.com was founded in 1995 with the mission to help singles find new relationships. Match.com allows its users to write about themselves in self-bios and post photos of themselves on their profile. Users can then contact each other, if interested, through the sites anonymous email network. Any contact information is kept private through the site's privacy policy until the user is open to sharing.

In early 2013, Match.com was sued for $10 million, by Mary Kay Beckman after being attacked by her Match.com partner, Wade Mitchell Ridley. The two had allegedly gone out for 10 days and after Beckman broke up with Ridley, he continuously harassed her with phone calls and messages. Until one day, he stabbed Beckman and assaulted her. A week after the incident with Beckman, Ridley also attacked an ex-girlfriend of his. As a result, he was sentenced to 28 to 70 years in prison. This event brought up the issue of how safe online dating sites were and the responsibility of the provider to protect its users against sexual offenders and other dangerous people.

Match.com has made it possibly for people to find their other half. There are now more than 1 million people in the world whose parents met on Match.com. The company is giving a scholarship to kids whose parents met on match.com. Making the contest, even more interesting the general public will choose the best of 10 finalists through Facebook and Twitter. Match CEO Sam Yagan says the pool of potential applicants could number 100,000, as it’s open to all U.S. 13- to 20-year-olds whose parents or stepparents met through the website.

OkCupid

OkCupid is one of the fastest growing online friendship and dating service providers. It was founded in New York City by Chris Coyne, Christian Rudder, Sam Yagan and Max Krohn (the four also founded Sparknotes). The website designed their matching system off the user's answers to multiple choice questions. It also questions how the user wants his or her potential date to answer the question, as well as the importance of the issue discussed. Along with their website, they also have a mobile app available.

The mobile app proves to be the most convenience to users. It has the ability to filter candidates based on age, ethnicity, income, height, interests, and more. OkCupid mobile app is similar to Tinder mobile app, in terms of suggesting potential candidates then giving the app user the option to swipe left (dislike) or swipe right (like). It's matched when two users both like each other, members are allowed to write a self-description, and he/she can post multiple pictures to clarify and secure the viewer's interests. In addition to the features mentioned previously, OkCupid has an option of blocking inappropriate messages, or candidate from contacting you again which Tinder doesn't have. OkCupid also shows how many people visited your profile and looked at your pictures, aside from the number, the person also has the ability to see the user that visited their profile. OkCupid also offers a paid version of the app which comes with features that protect your identity and lets you visit profiles without the user's seeing your name. The app costs $9.95 a month, which is 46% less expensive than the average dating site.

Cosmopolitan also published a review regarding OkCupid's male users. The author, Alexandra Martell, showcases messages she received from men on the website which displayed their lack of social grace and a few sexist comments. This goes to prove that online dating may not be for everyone.

OkCupid has been competing with many other matchmaking websites, and they haven’t always been coming out on top. Earlier this year (January 2018) OkCupid launched a brand new campaign. This new campaign was brought about to redefine the stigma behind online dating, and the emphasis of being “DTF” (Down to F***) OkCupid claimed to want their users to remember that they deserve better and that the site was here to give them that. OkCupid has launched 15 new pictures as a part of their campaign, with messages such as “Down to Filter out the far right”, “Down To Fight about the president”, “Down to Four twenty” and others. These messages range from simple humor to political statements.

OkCupid says they are a site dedicated to more than just judgment on pictures, it is here to connect people with which they are the most

Plenty of Fish

Plenty of Fish was founded by Markus Frind. It is one of the largest dating sites in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In 2008, it had an estimated of 36 million monthly users in the United States while it had about 8 million visitors in the United Kingdom. During the same year, Plenty of Fish earned approximately $10 million in advertising. People are attracted to this social site because it is free of charge. Anyone can sign up at no cost. The users are suggested to provide their personal information such as location, ethnicity, and personality to be used for the matchmaking on the website. It will suggest the users of who will be likely to get along with your personality and background. It helps customizing the user's profile to fit the user's needs that can lead to a higher successful rate in a relationship. As per commercials run by Plenty Of Fish (POF) on T.V., it has the highest marriage rate of any competitor in the U.S. This attracts many to it as they seek to meet people who will want to eventually settle down and get married.

Ourtime.com

Ourtime was adapted and owned by Match.com. It is in an effort to find an online match for everyone from all walks of life and for those who are 50 or older. This website allows members to instant message, chat in the chat room platform, message board, email, set favorites, and privately converse with other members. Ourtime also has a mobile app that allows easy and convenient access to all the online features at user's fingertips. However, not all Ourtime Dating features are free to viewers For example, in order to send a message, set favorites, or send a flirt viewers will be asked to pay membership fees.

eHarmony

eHarmony was developed by Neil Clark Warren, a clinical psychologist who specialized in couples counseling, and launched in the United States in 2000. eHarmony bases its business and relationship building on scientific matching, 29 dimensions of compatibility and expert guidance. Scientific matching is based of Dr. Warren's 35 years of experience and analysis of marriage relationships. From that, he developed a way to score true compatibility between couples; he termed it 29 dimensions of compatibility, which is essentially based on core traits and viral attributes. Core traits are defining characteristics that remain the same throughout life. Viral attributes are life and learning experiences that shape one's personality as he or she ages. The system offers a clear analysis of the user's personality to match him or her up with a partner. Now, over a decade later, eharmony has expanded and is available in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia as well.

Spark Networks

Spark Networks – Spark Networks is a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange: ticker LOV []The company owns and operates more than 30 niche-focused on online dating companies. As of 2017 it had the 3rd largest market share of the online dating industry. Its most popular dating sites are Christian Mingle and J. Date.

On May 2nd of 2017, Spark Networks and Affinitas GmbH entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger. On projected 2018 basis, the combined companies are expected to generate between $118 - $122 million in revenues. * EliteSingles shareholders will own approximately 75% of combined company and spark shareholders will own approximately 25%

Christian Mingle

Initially launched in 2001,Christian Mingle is for singles that are Christians seeking other Christian singles. The site features instant messaging services where you can chat with others about various topics from restaurants and good movies to when they first started believing in Christ. Other features include chat rooms, Bible verse of the day, two-way matching services and dating tips. There are options to adjust privacy settings so others can view only what you choose to display on your profile. This is a dating service that allows people who share the same religious views, beliefs and values to get together and see if a connection sparks between them. Their slogan "Find God's Match for You™" has caused controversy over using God's name to promote a dating service.

J Date

JDate is an online dating service aimed at Jewish singles. The service is one of over thirty websites owned by Spark Networks. JDate has facilitated hundreds of thousands of relationships since its launch in 1997. The site now connects more than 750,000 Jews worldwide in search of love and enjoys unsurpassed recognition within the Jewish community.

JDate’s mission is to strengthen the Jewish community and ensure that Jewish traditions are sustained for generations to come. To accomplish this, JDate provides a global network where Jewish singles find friendship, romance and life-long partners within their faith. On November 10, 2014, JDate launched a dating app designed to bring its site to a mobile audience. The app features swipe technology.

Ashley Madison

Ashley Madison is a website that hosts millions of people that try to find discrete connections. Whether they are single, in a relationship, or simply just curious, they are able to use this platform to form a new relationship. In 2015, a group called "The Impact Team" stole data that contained users data including personal information, like name, home address, search history, and credit card numbers. The hack found data rooting from about 15,000 ".mil" and ".gov" email addresses. It is not known how many of these emails are completely legitimate. [1]. From that Ashley Madison decided to rebrand their brand and focus on their privacy policy online to gain the trust back from their customers. They pushed emphasis on implementing a tool to mark your own photos with blur, inbox control that will allow users to use their "Quick Reply" feature that will sort their messages easier.[2].

Ashley Madison has experienced multiple different issues since the beginning of it's founding. Ashley Madison is in no way ethical, but many that are in support of this service claim that this platform is specifically for those interested in these situations. Just like JDate, a dating service catered towards Jewish singles, or DateMySchool, which caters towards students in neighboring school, Ashley Madison is catered to those who are interested in romantic situations with a married partner.

Shaadi.com

Shaadi.com is known as the number one dating site for Indians. It is the World's No 1 Indian Matrimonial Website with over 5 million marriages.[3] There are many success stories that are made from this website. It helps connects Indians with other Indians both from India and the United States. Children of Indian parents try to avoid getting arranged by making use of Shaadi to connect with other Indian girls or men all over the world.




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MuzMatch.com

MuzMatch.com is a dating site for single Muslims. Muslims are required by their religion to marry another Muslim. However, many people have found it difficult to find someone from the same religion. Dating and finding the one is another process aside from finding a Muslim. MuzMatch has made it easier for those that are looking to date, and also, are Muslim. This makes it an easier process for single Muslims, because it narrows down the category for them, and gives them ease in knowing that all users on the app are Muslim as well. MuzMatch has 3,000,000 users, in 190 countries and has had 60,000 weddings from users that met on the app. These are great statistics!

SoulSwipe

SoulSwipe is a dating site for black adults to meet, chat, and match with another black single. How does SoulSwipe work? It has a similar concept as Tinder in which the user swipes, swipes right if they like the profile or swipes left if they don't like the profile. You can set a specific radius, and you will have the option to match with anyone that’s within that distance. You can swipe right on a picture and "like" (heart) their profile or swipe left and "pass” (X) on their profile. If you and somebody else both swipe right and "like" each other, you’re officially a “match” and have the option to chat with one another. [4]

SilverSingles

SilverSingles is a dating site just for women and men age 50 and over. The name has been around since 2011, helping seniors to find their perfect partners. SilverSingles is offered to users in the U.S, Germany, Canada, U.K, France, and Australia. Users on this dating site are able to make connections and find their match by uploading basic information such their likes/dislikes, preferences, profession, and lifestyle. There is a personality test which users have to take in order to find matches. This dating site is free to use but members with the paid subscription (starting at $12.95 per month) enjoy the full experience. There are different types of subscription packages to choose from, depending on how many additional benefit a users wants to have. Members who pay receive additional benefits such as the ability to get extra daily matches, leave comments on other members' photos, and contact members as they please. SilverSingles can also be accessed on the go by allowing members to download their app which is available for both IOS and Android devices. There have been many success stories linked to this dating site which included matched members getting married.

Zoosk

Founded in 2007, Zoosk is an online dating platform which currently has 27 million members across 80 countries around the world. Initially, under the establishment of Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, the company operated as one of Facebook's very first online applications. Today, the company is managed under CEO Kelly Steckelberg.

Utilizing a proprietary "behavioral matchmaking" algorithm, Zoosk enables its users to gradually find a better match for their respective personalities. Similar to platforms such as Tinder and Bumble, Zoosk also incorporates a "carousel" feature which allows users to rapidly go through various profiles across the platform. By participating actively in the feature, the platform begins to take into account who its user is liking, winking at, and messaging, to then formulate the next favorable batch of profiles to display to that individual.

DateMySchool

DateMySchool was created by Balazs Alexa and Jean Meyer who were Columbia business students and was launched in November of 2010. It is an example of a website which allows people to meet others in their school or their area. The website gives users many options in terms of privacy and who can and cannot view their profile. Someone can make their profile visible only to certain schools or hidden only from certain schools. There are 350 schools currently participating in this dating service. This allows people who are squeamish about the idea of online dating and embarrassed to have their friends find out, to try it without any scrutiny. There are also paid and unpaid memberships and different benefits accompany each one. With the free membership, you are allowed to browse other users but are not allowed access to their contact information or send a message.

Payment Plans:

1. “Best Value Plan”, with a one-time payment of $75.43, which gets you six months at the rate of $12.57 per month.

2. “Standard Plan” with a one-time payment of $63.00, which gets you six months at the rate of $10.50 per month.

3. “Full Price” one month minimum, for $20.97.

Safety guidelines are provided on the main website to help enhance members' experience with cautions:

1. Meet up in public places.

2. Don't exchange personal information like Social Security Number, address, or phone number.

3. Don't send money of any means (wiring money, or sending cash).

4. Beware of con-artist from a different country or from the U.S.

5. Rushing into conversation like "fate" or "destiny".

Pros for using Dating sites:

1. Easy signup process.

2. User-friendly on website and app.

3. Maximum of 30 photos per profile.

4. Ability to promote visibility of the profile to others.

5. Ourtime Dating profiles seemed to be real people profile.

Cons for using Dating sites:

1. Allowing younger members (20s,30s, and 40s) to join the website, which unintentionally create pressures to compete for the 50s and above.

2. Solicitation for quick hook ups or sugar daddy potentials.

3. Many photos in profile are not of the members themselves.

4. No customer service phone number listed on the website. 5. "Swiping right" someone doesn't necessarily mean a 'match was made.'

6. Some of these apps, including Mingler" are not user-friendly hence poor reviews.

7. Online dating discourages people from meeting others in and around the physical environment.

Finding Love through the use of Mobile Apps

As technology has grown, love between couples can also be found through apps--where they can trace people within your geographic area and look around to friends of your friends to match you up. This helps ensure there is less awkwardness and give a more secure sense as the people they are meeting are friends of a friend. Many of the dating website mentioned above has also gone with mobile apps, but some of these love-matching apps are exclusively apps.

Tinder

Tinder is a fast-growing, location-based dating mobile app available to Android and iOS users to connect to one another through the app, and even sync your Facebook account to meet people that your friends might know. Tinder has a target audience of men and women from the ages of 18 to 34 years old. This mobile app is completely free and all you need to do is register an account. Users can just download the mobile app on their iPhone or Android phones, and either manually enters personal information or connect through Facebook to create a profile. They can upload up to six profile photos and write a brief introduction on their profile. Users then select the range of distance they are interested in, and start scrolling through potential matches within the selected distance from where the user is. While scrolling through other users in the area, users swipe right on the heart icon if they're interested in the profile they are viewing, or they can swipe left on the X icon if they're not interested. Users are only matched if they both swiped to the right for each other. When there's a mutual interest, users get a notification of the match which enables them to message each other through the app messenger. Tinder reports 400 million matches in 2016 with approximately 4 million new matches per day. One of the major setbacks of Tinder is that there are flaws in security where the user's email and Facebook profile are revealed to others without the user's consent. This might cause an issue with the future use of this popular mobile dating app if users feel that their privacy with strangers is in question. Tinder is currently facing a controversial issue due to their new ad that features an Indian mother being "cool" with casual sex.[[5]]

JSwipe

JSwipe was founded by David Yarus and three co-founders in April 2014. JSwipe is an online dating app is designed to connect Jews together. There are two question that one needs to answer when an account is created. “Are you kosher or not kosher” and “Are you Orthodox, Reform, Just Jewish, Willing to convert or Other.” Thus, the app gives the option for people to connect to people of their religion, unlike other dating apps that connect people together according to hobbies, favorite books/movies, food etc.

It didn’t take the app JSwipe a very long time to become popular. According to JSwipe, only five months after they launched the app there were 800,000 users worldwide. Yarus believed that he was in the right place in the right time and said in an interview “Millennials need the freshest, cleanest, smoothest technology and user interface; at that point it wasn’t available for millennial Jews. We brought the latest and greatest of technology and innovation to the Jewish community, and we did it in a fun, fast, friendly, clean way. Social media is really where it just blew up.” Today, the app has gained over 165,00 users in more than 70 countries according to Yarus.

The biggest advantage of JSwipe is the narrow target market. However, this can also be seen as a disadvantage for users and the company. Jswipe has a lot fewer people to target when it is compared to other online dating apps like Tinder and OKCupid. Jswipe has a very specific target market – millennial Jews - where all other apps have more diversity. Companies like Tinder and OKCupid benefit from the diversity when more users join them and Jswipe loses a lot of users just through their specific target market. Thus, the user pool is smaller and the app works better in cities were the Jewish population is larger, such as New York, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv. However, in a state like Oklahoma City were the Jewish population is small it will be hard on a user there to find a match.

Online dating apps are considered to be a form of New Media and they have become very popularly in the past five years. Some could say that Jswipe is doing a great job connecting on people, especially the orthodox which is not an option for them to marry someone who is not Jewish. Thus, through Jswipe everybody is an option for them. Others would say that JSwipe does a bad job connecting people. Users get used to communicating with a screen and it effects their communication and social skills.

Hinge

Hinge is a mobile app that is much like Tinder. However, the "Hinge Model" is much more personable because it operates strictly through mutual friends on Facebook. As potential future dates come up on your screen you will know which friend of yours knows them, like "meeting someone at a dinner party on your phone". The "mutual friend" exclusivity allows for higher rates of potential first dates because it is easier to connect when people are familiar with the people you know. The fear of online dating is dramatically reduced with this application because one could always contact their mutual friend about the person in question, whereas mobile apps like Tinder contain users who are complete strangers. While online dating will never replace real-life courting, Hinge is certainly ahead of the curve with their business model by making it less risky for users to date "through the phone". Hinge might be charging their customers to pay for the app now because they have seen a decline in usage. [[6]]

The app explains the person's full name, where they work, where they went to school. This is also another difference between Tinder and Hinge since Hinge also provides prompts for users to fill out, giving more interesting facts and statements for each person such as favorite activities, interesting hobbies, etc. Compared to Tinder, Hinge also has fewer bots, which are fake profiles that may be created for varying purposes, such as promotion of other sites and spam messages.

Grindr

Grindr is a geo-social networking application geared towards gay, bisexual, and bi-curious men launched in 2009. It runs on iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Android devices. Available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play, Grindr comes in both free and subscription-based versions (Grindr Xtra). The app makes use of the device geolocation, which allows users to locate other men within proximity. This is accomplished through a user interface that displays a grid of representative pictures of men, arranged from nearest to farthest away. Tapping on a picture will display a brief profile for that user, as well as the option to chat, send pictures, and share one's location. There is also the advertisement free app called: Grindr Xtra. In May 2016, an investigation opened on a case that featured a hook up that happened through Grindr [[7]] Grindr has been considered as an app for "casual sex".

Twine

Twine is the mobile dating app available for iOS devices that allows singles to dates with people from their local areas based on their interest. The company behind Twine SpoonJuice LLC advertises that the app is anonymous until person reveals himself and that the app has best gender-based ratio. Their flag feature ICE breaker helps starts conversations with other users by choosing the topic that best suits the users. Twine uses 'canvas' that consist of the gallery of pictures that the user like and that can be viewed by others to best match the interests. When two people like each other canvases their photos and profiles are revealed.

Grouper

Grouper is a different type of online dating site. Grouper is a new version of the way that you can date online. Through Grouper, you are given the ability to connect with friends of friends to go on a date. GROUPER gives you the ability to anonymously choose friends-of-friends to meet. It allows the people going on a date to each bring 2 friends. It uses Facebook to set up these groups based on their age, interests, education, and lifestyle. This site makes it less dangerous to meet strangers since both dates get to bring along two friends. Also, Grouper makes reservations at the place of the date and provides a free drink. The negatives of this site are the date is a blind date and users must pay $20 per person per date. Grouper doesn’t allow users see pictures or other information before the date. Grouper is interesting and different from other dating sites though this site might be better for meeting a group of new people rather than finding a life partner. It's a great way to meet people you don't have speak to the person beforehand, you just set up a place to meet. I know it sounds crazy but it's adventurous! It's a great new way to meet someone spontaneously!

Coffee Meets Bagel

Coffee Meets Bagel is an app founded by 3 sisters in New York City, Arum, Dawoon, and Soo. Although there are millions of people in New York, they are generally in a rush and do not have the time to go out and look for a date. Following this theory, they wanted to make it fun and exciting with something their users can look forward to each day during their lunch or coffee breaks. They created the app on three guiding principles, where your dating life should remain private unless you want to tell others, your friends are the best conduits for your dates, and meeting quality people doesn't have to be so awkward or complicated. Unlike the other dating apps, they decided to change it up and deliver their users only one match, or a "Bagel" every day at 12pm using their Facebook profiles to find a match. Once they received their "Bagel," they have 7 days to either like or pass. The 3 sisters also had appeared on ABC's Shark Tank, where they wanted to look for an investor for their company. Even though they were unable to make an offer with one of the sharks, they turned down Mark Cuban, who offered $30 million for the entire company because they believed that it would grow and eventually be worth more than that.[[8]]

This is interesting. It is a great idea because the fact that it is very casual only helps. Many people are afraid to date because it can be awkward if too much is expected, and it is also time consuming. With something like this being possible, I think it opens many more doors. It just makes things easier.

Bumble

Bumble is a dating app founded by a former co-founder and Vice President of Tinder, Whitney Wolfe. The app, like Tinder, is location-based. The profiles are also populated with Facebook information so that fake profiles can be minimized. Profiles show up on the feed of the user's app and the user can decide to swipe right if they "like" the person, or they can swipe left to continue with the swiping. Matches occur when two people swipe right on each other when browsing through potential candidates. Bumble profiles show up to 5 photos, location of the person, job title, education and an optional short biography. Bumble users can choose their preferences on age range. Bumble has featured new features that become easier for men to use. [[9]]

Bumble has one requirement that Tinder doesn't have: women make the first move. If the woman does not message her match within 24 hours following the match, the connection will be lost forever. In terms of same-sex matches, either person can make the first move in the same time span before the connection diminishes. Whitney Wolfe thought of the idea for this app because she believed the Tinder app was shallow and unsafe. Guys merely used Tinder for the sole purpose of hooking up, which contradicts the idea of dating apps. By implementing the requirement of the girl making the first move, it is supposedly safer. However, just because Bumble has this one requirement doesn't make the app any less shallow. If anything, it can be argued that Bumble is just as shallow or even more shallow than Tinder. People view these profiles based on photos and job title, which can encourage users to be shallow.

While this is a great concept, women should not be afraid to make the first move, it is even more shallow being based off job titles. It is pretty much inferring a woman will message a male if he is good looking and has a good job, while both factors are important, whatever happened to personality? The app might have more success if it was less shallow and focused on other objectives as well.

The League

The League is a dating app created by Amanda Bradford for "elite individuals". Amanda Bradford managed to raise $2.1 million dollars for the app within 2 months of launching the app in California. The League pulls information from LinkedIn and Facebook and this is to ensure that users create a quality profile who is serious about dating. The aim of the app is match up "intelligent, elite, and successful" singles.

Elite is not just for anyone, compared to Tinder. It is considered the elite of Tinder, in addition to linking your personal and work life to the dating app. “The brand of The League is really for these ambitious driven, young professionals that want to date other ambitious, driven young professionals,” explained Amanda Bradford, founder of The League. There is a wait list or to cut the line, you would have to get a VIP pass from someone who is already a member. Someone in San Francisco had even tried selling their VIP pass for $100 on Craigslist! Once you're in, each member gets at least 5 matches at the end of the day. The goal of The League is to create power couples. The league has been keeping up with the times and as of April 28th, 2016 has updated its features. [[10]]

Happn

Happn is another app that uses your location to see who you cross paths with. The app shows you how many times you cross paths with someone and, where you crossed paths. Most of the other dating apps use pictures of the user as a primary factor. This app also lets you do that, but with this app, it also lets you see where you see that person. On your regular daily commute, you may see someone interesting that you pass every day. This app gives you a chance to talk to that person that crosses your life.

Tantan

Tantan is a dating app first developed and used in China. It is extremely similar to the Tinder dating app which is why Tantan is also known as the Chinese version of Tinder. Tantan is compatible on both Apple's iOS system and the Android system like many other mobile dating apps. Because Tantan is a Chinese app, its users are mainly Chinese users or other Asian users, but of course there are other users as well. That said, the app only comes with the following languages: English, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, and Korean. Tantan also claimed their users are 60% male and 40% female which is higher than most other Chinese apps since they focus on marketing towards female users more. Like Tinder, users swipe right to "Like" the user and swipe left to "Forget" the user. Only users who mutually match or like each other will be able to message one another.

East Meets East

East Meets East is a dating app exclusively for Asians in the U.S. The founder of this app is named Mariko Tokioka, whose goal was to create a sort of match making service. This is a New York-based app that is currently active in six cities in the United States. The main purpose of East Meets East is to find true love rather than just making it a one night stand or "hooking up." While the app is absolutely free for women to partake in, men are charged a fee of $30/ month. Tokioka explains that "It is basically ladies night concept. Statistically Asian women are wanted more [by men of other ethnicities], but Asian men are not so much desired.” The total amount of users have grown three times over the past year and some tactics used to further increase their user base has been to have You-tuber's promote this dating app. Some You-Tuber's that East Meets East have worked with are the Fung Brothers, David So, and Wong-Fu Productions. Tokioka hopes to further expand this dating app to areas in Canada, Australia, England, and Hong Kong.

Finding Love Through Gaming Apps

Many people today are well acquainted with what anime is and often times when they are searching the web or blogging on Tumblr, people see questions like "who is your anime crush?" or "which celebrity or fictional character do you have the biggest crush on?" This is because while people are reading, watching movies, shows or anime, they tend to feel connected to certain characters and may develop a crush on them. Also, especially for girls who watch anime, they believe that they can find the perfect guy for them in animes. Similarly, guys may feel a certain attraction for fictional girls as well or develop an idea of what kind of girl they may want based on what they see in books, movies, or anime. However, because these are fictional characters, those types of characters are hard to come across in reality and many people then turn to games or apps on their smartphones that will allow them to experience the love they crave. Others may feel more comfortable writing their own love stories as well.

One such game app on the phone which first came out in Japan is created by Voltage Inc. This game is called "Be My Princess" which is the English version of "Oujisama no Puropozu". "Ouji-sama" is translated to "Prince" which means this is a game where an average girl can experience a love story with a prince. In the game, the user will read the various characters/stories of each prince and will then proceed to download the character's story to which she felt the most attraction for. The storyline of this game is that the user is a girl who is studying abroad and she meets six princes there who are next in line for their kingdoms' thrones. Of course, then the romance will build between the user and one of the princes.

There are many other games like this such as users who encounter vampires instead of princes for those who have such fantasies or preferences. Of course, there are also things like spending a vacation away and meeting boys living next door and whatnot. Usually, after the game is completed with one character, the user can choose to restart and complete the other storylines as well. Usually, the games allow the users a couple of options to pick from when dialogue occurs in the game and based on the choice of the user, the love story progresses from there.

For many who can't find romance in reality or are not satisfied with the people they meet in real life, these types of games are a great way to escape, as well as a great means of giving them satisfaction and happiness. It is simply the corny and romantic things that the characters say and do that make the users' hearts flutter. Thus, just a game and a couple of fictional characters is sufficient for one to find love in. In fact, while watching anime, reading stories, and watching movies, just watching others experience a sweet romance is enough for some people to feel happy and satisfied.

While looking in the app store, for both Android and Apple, they now have apps that allow people to find partners in their neighborhood or other places in the world. Apps such as Zoosk and SayHi show how new media completely changed the dating game - no more letters now, it's all about chats.

MMORPG Relationships

Avatars of Andrus (Paul Turner) and Branwen (Vicky Teather)

There are many players in MMO games such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, Maplestory, and Final Fantasy that met in the game and started a relationship, some of which evolved into something deeper like marriage. Some of these massive, multiplayer online games have features that allow the characters to get married, giving bonuses as an incentive (if their love wasn't enough). There are a lot of players in these mentioned games that have started relationships and communicate out of the game and onto social media or video calls. There is a lot of criticism on the legitimacy of these relationships: are they real? Are they less significant and real than a relationship started in person? The answers all vary depending on each individual and how committed he/she is to someone. Finding love on social media apps and in games is becoming a standard for those who have difficulty meeting people in reality, or are just too busy with their work schedules. It is just another long-distance relationship until the couple trusts each other enough to meet, and develop the bond into marriage. This is what a couple, Paul Turner and Vicky Teather, who played Final Fantasy XI did after playing together for 18 months. They did not realize their bond had become so strong that they developed feelings for each other. They even decided to end their current relationships, avoiding an affair, to spend time together in person. Some online relationships work out wonderfully and magically, while some end up broken with regret, not unlike any other type of relationship we may find.

Problems With Social Media Love

Long ago, dating was uncommon, but arranged marriage was widely practiced and promoted before courtship. A walk-in backyard would pose a big problem for potential couples because a chaperone is always required in this occasion. Sexual intimacy is forbidden until marriage unless it was unlawful act of fornication between hidden lovers. The origin of the "F-Word" has different meanings to it than what it stands for today; it used to stand for "Fornication Under Consent of The King" or "Fornication Under Command of the King" or "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (committing adultery) but today the same word is slipping through the lips as easy as a "how are you?" regardless of its offensiveness.

In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, “dating” meant almost the same thing to everyone: two people meet in person and engage in innocent activities like eating dinner and watching a movie and possibly other activities to get to know one another. The definition of dating is varies between people, generation, cultures and countries. As time went on, today's generation now defines "dating" as hot chemistry, heated friendship, and plenty of physical interactions. Online virtual dating involves two people or more people interacting and acting as a couple online, but not in real life.

Today, in the world of Snapchat, Tinder, Grindr, Twitter, Facebook and the rest of it, dating can mean all sorts of things, and sometimes nothing at all. Dating can be meeting up to see where it goes, to hook up once or multiple times, to find a potential girlfriend or boyfriend, or simply browse the options. Various questions are presented to the subject of love and dating such as, are we dating if we hook up? If we “talk” every day over text, are we at least involved? If you don’t return my text within five minutes, did you just break up with me? Phone texting, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook played a major role in changing the way people get to know another and the way couples interact to build their relationship. All kinds of misunderstandings can result in these methods of communication; texting does not convey emotions and social media platforms are not private enough for intimate discussions.

Raised online, millennials have an entirely different world to contend with—one that makes rules and boundaries highly individual and exasperatingly unclear. The onslaught of social technology means there is no standard dating etiquette anymore. There are also a lot of scams and invasions of privacy caused by the social networking apps and websites.

Issues occur when the number of online connections you have is more important than the quality of those connections, and when 140-character messages are given more space in your life than actual, unedited conversations, chances are you’re going to feel terribly lonely. And abject loneliness doesn’t facilitate healthy romantic relationships. Besides poor quality connections mean poor communication and poor relationship qualities. Break up and divorce are the result of poor relationship quality from the beginning, statistic showed an extreme increased in divorce rate From 1900 to 2001 at the rate of 0.7 to 4.0. . Online dating has made easier for people to meet, date and marriage. Accompany short life-span of online dating poses short marriage and quick divorce for the lack of quality connections.

Dating sites and apps have also lessened the romantic aspect of dating and meeting someone in real life as many now use these sites to hook up. Last millennium, 72% of us met our partners at school or university, at work or in networks of family or friends. The other 28%, presumably, met the loves of their lives by tripping over them as they lay in their own filth outside a Black Country pub. Or such were mating rites in my day. The internet is revolutionary because it renders it easy for us to make contact with people we don't know and, better yet, those who don't necessarily live within the area. But, this also means that people can lie about certain information as well as you don't really get a great understanding of them until you meet up in real life.

According to Match.com Millennials are 57% more likely to have a dating app profile than any other generation. They are also 22% more likely to feel frustrated in love because of technology. Social media sites and new apps have changed the dating game but that doesn't necessarily mean that love itself has changed. Dating and dating etiquette have changed since the beginning of "dating," and new technology will only help it evolve and change even more. Since there is no objective right or wrong way to date, these new examples of media that aid in the dating process should just be seen as a new way to meet people and engage in a relationship. These sites and apps will change the way people interact and learn about each other but ultimately will achieve similar results in the long run as dating before their existence.

Dating through social media can also result in problems known at cat-fishing. Cat-fishing is the usage of a fake identity by one via online platforms. Social media allows people to pretend to be someone else. Cat-fishing may result in extreme dangers since you do not know whether the person you met through social media is a potential rapist. Cat-fishing is not only used by other users pretending to be someone else, but also by hackers who just want to steal your information. Often times, they portray themselves to be attractive individuals and then send automated messages that at first seem to be real, but turn out to be phony. Throughout this conversation, the "bot" will ask realistic questions and make realistic statements, making it easy for someone to be misled. Cat-fishing has become so popular, in 2010 a documentary turned television show was created with the same name on MTV by Nev Schulman. Towards the end of the 2010 documentary Catfish, Nev finally meets the woman with whom he’s carried on a long-term online relationship. To Nev's surprise Megan is actually Angela, who is married and in her mid 40's. Angela's husband, Vince, tells a metaphorical story, which inspired the name of the film: "They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. They’d keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the codfish reached China, the flesh was mush and tasteless. So this guy came up with the idea that if you put these cods in these big vats, put some catfish in with them and the catfish will keep the cod agile. And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring and dull if we didn't have somebody nipping at our fin."

In addition to cat-fishing, dating through social media poses other problems such as meeting people who do not have genuine intentions. While some people turn to dating sites and apps to find true love, there are others that use it entirely to find sexual partners. They take advantage of the users looking for something truly special and come across as genuine until they get what they want. Online dating contributes to the crime rates such as, kidnapping, rapes, cyber stalking, robbery, scams, prostitution ads and identify fraud. According to research more than 10% of dating profiles online are fake, and 80% of dating profiles lie about their age. The 4,467 victims who reported being the victim of an online dating crime are a small percentage of the total number of victims. Extreme cautions are require for online users when it comes to online dating services.

The most recent update to the mobile app "Snapchat" involves placing emoji icons next to names of the people you most frequently chat with. The controversy with this update in terms of modern dating is that it creates a visual for where exactly you socially stand with the people you interact with. For example, if there is a "yellow heart" next to a person's name, that is the highest level of intimacy through the application because it means that you and the other person are each other's #1 best friend, which is usually your significant other or person that you like the most. Imagine slowly watching this yellow heart change into a different emoji each week because your relationship with that person is going through trouble? Social media can certainly drive a person insane and this update essentially establishes a social hierarchy on your phone. Picture a couple fighting because the yellow heart disappeared. Does this hint toward infidelity? Who else are they snap chatting more than me? This update can lead to much insecurity and frustration.

While you are the only one that can see the levels of friendship on your phone, Snapchat had not always been this way. Many people find more comfort in this update than its previous version. "The old best friends feature let anyone see the three people to which you send snaps most frequently, basically letting you spy on your friends and lovers to see who they're chatting with most". You can imagine the hostility that was created when this information.

It is not just Snapchat. All forms of social media from Facebook to Instagram has poisoned romance for our generation. The constant attention we all give to these applications has taken the passion out of meeting someone and getting to know them naturally. Everyone has become private detectives on these applications, dissecting online profiles to get to know an individual rather than finding out in real life. Some people even believe that online profiles are the exact mirror of a person, what they're really like in real-life but unfortunately this is rarely the case.

Dangers of Online Dating

Finding love on new media sites is dangerous. At the end of the day, you never truly know who you are meeting until you meet them. In addition, you are providing loads of confidential data about yourself which makes you vulnerable to acts like stalking. Because of this, many dangerous people have taken advantage of this invasion of privacy. CNN articles state, “38 million Facebook accounts are fake”. People are creating fake persona’s to hack into others personal information or lure them into unwanted circumstances by creating a profile attracts them. Fake accounts are real and are a terror to this new social networking phase of society. Money is being stolen, lives are being destroyed, children are being kidnapped because these accounts are selling false hope and fake dreams. As appealing for teenagers is it to get the approval of their fellow peers, by uploading material that boosts their confidence, it is as appealing to sexual predators. Sexual predators often prey on unsuspecting teens and adults using forms of new media. Whether it's creating a fake ad in an online newspaper or posting on online chat rooms to engage potential victims. Hiding one's identity is much easier due to the advances in social networking. Sites often try to add special features such as verifying emails to ensure that the email addresses used are linked to real people. But there is no way to actually ensure that the person who claims to own the email address is actually who they say they are. People often create multiple email addresses to get around this security feature.

Dangerous

According to the research, 55 percent experienced some form of threat or problem while dating online -- from IT security incidents to meeting someone who didn't meet their requirements or being rejected by a potential date. Statistics show that men are more likely than women to put themselves at risk. Men were twice as likely as women to say their devices had been infected with malware, spyware or ransomware, with 13% of men have received phishing emails purported to be from online dating sites, compared with just 7% of women. About a third of online dating users had malware or viruses on their phones, compared with 12 percent of non-users.In addition, about one in 10 people had their devices hacked, their data infected, Shared, or fell victim to financial fraud. So dating apps not only pose a threat to personal security, but also to mobile security.

Identity thieves like to use social media to get everything people are talking about like their pets, their hometown, their favorite sports team. These are usually the answers to security questions and passwords. For those browsing social media, it's easy to steal someone's identity just by paying attention to what they're saying and doing. Cyberbullying is a huge problem, and for good reason: its consequences can be serious, sometimes leading to self-harm or suicide. A child's self-esteem is very fragile in early adolescence. Online bullying, gossiping, and verbal insults can send teens into severe depression, or cause their anxiety to go beyond their control, leading to panic attacks, phobias, and compulsive behavior.

Social Media's Effects on Relationships

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A new phenomenon caused by social media is "social media envy". People often post pictures and statements of their loved ones on social media. You may find a post about how much someone loves their significant other or how beautiful they are. This kind of outpour of affection online creates a feeling of envy towards the partner of someone who is not getting that attention online. Being someone's WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday) or MCM (Man Crush Monday) is a title that most would love to have. Social media has opened the door to people seeking validation of love online rather than in person. Liking your partner's picture equates to an act of love in real life. These people in turn direct that feeling of neglect onto their loved ones. They question why aren't they broadcasting their love via social media like those couples on Facebook or Instagram? This display of insecurity is hurtful to their partner. It's now more about the how they display their affection online versus their real life actions. People are trying to compete with others virtual displays of affection instead of actually taking the time to spend with their partner and enjoy real life tokens of love. There are so many ways to show someone that we love them, such as sending flowers or telling them face-to-face how we feel.

Besides social media envy, your social media habits can also effect your relationship. According to a 2014 study by the University of Oxford Internet Institute, out of 24,000 married couples, people that used more than 5 social media sites experienced a decrease in levels of relationship satisfaction. Trying to maintain so many different forms of communication undermines actual relationship ties. People spend more time keeping their social media ties intact. Relationships suffer because couples are interacting less face-to-face.

Social media can also cause issues with couples feeling like the other person in the relationship is sharing too much or too little information. It is suggested that couples have a discussion about what they feel is acceptable and unacceptable to share to avoid this issue.

Ghosting

Badoo's prompt suggestions to prevent ghosting

"Ghosting" is a term used to describe the act of cutting off all communication from another person while in a romantic relationship, without any explanation. The silent treatment often occurs after several dates, or even during a committed relationship. This phenomenon stems from the growing popularity of dating apps, particularly swiping has made it easier to partake in ghosting. These kinds of apps have changed the experience of dating because people are presented with hundreds of options, which are all easily accessible via smartphones. Thus, creating a culture that disregards meaningful relationships, and seeks more causal hookups. With ghosting becoming more common, people often feel rejected and hurt. In fact, it can be a "dehumanizing and damaging mental health experience.”

In response to the ghosting epidemic, many dating apps have begun to take measures to prevent its further prevalence. Namely, Bumble now sends makes little pop-up messages to those individuals who haven't replied to texts. They hope to encourage users to respond by either politely ending the conversation or simply continuing it. Another app that participates in helping limit ghosting is Hinge. The app will keep the notification on, even if the message has been read, because the user has not yet responded. As a reminder to reply, there will be a prompt displayed for that specific chat, which says "your turn". Similarly, the application Badoo suggests pre-set responses for people to send rather than ghosting.