OkCupid and Match Apps Partner with White House to Help Singles Get More Matches if Vaccinated

If you’re looking for love advice post-COVID-19, look no further than the White House.

In a White House Covid-19 Response briefing on May 21, viewers heard the importance of getting a Covid vaccine if they’re looking for love online.

White House COVID-19 advisor Andy Slavitt said, “According to one of the sites, OkCupid, people who display their vaccine status are 14% more likely to get a match. We have finally found the one thing that makes us more attractive — a vaccination.”

Starting on Monday, May 24, 2021, OkCupid will launch their “I’m Vaccinated” profile badge and will be able to search for other vaccinated singles within OkCupid’s stacks. OkCupid reports the phrase “I’m Vaccinated” was mentioned in daters’ profiles 1,400% more in May of 2021, as compared to January when the vaccine first started rolling out.

In a press release, Match group’s CEO, Shar Dubey, said, “We are honored to work with the White House on increasing Vaccinations across America, which will allow people to once again meet in person and engage in meaningful ways. This will make dating safer for everyone, everywhere.”

Along with various vaccination profile badges, other Match Group apps, including Tinder, will provide users with “I’m Vaccinated” or “Vaccines Save Lives” stickers to add to their profile. The Match app will add a “Vaccinated” badge, Hinge will give users a free “Rose,” Plenty of Fish will release an “I Got My Shot” badge, along with free Live” credits to live stream with an online date, BLK will add a “Vaxified” badge, and Chispa will add a “Vacunado” profile badge.

Tinder, Match, Plenty of Fish, Hinge, BLK, Chispa will also be rewarding singles who are vaccinated with free Super Likes and Boosts to help them appear more frequently in searches.

The vaccinated campaigns will run through the Fourth of July.

Other apps, including Bumble and Badoo, will be offering vaccination badges to help create COVID vaccine awareness.

It’s time to kick COVID to the curb as we welcome the summer of love and dating safely for those who are ready to date IRL again.

Take our Poll on Dating in the Age of COVID-19

Julie Spira is America’s Online Dating Expert and the founder of Cyber-Dating Expert. She’s an award-winning dating coach who’s been helping singles on finding love online for over 25 years.

FOLLOW @JulieSpira on Instagram and Twitter for dating advice.  

 

Dating Sunday 2021 – The Best Day of the Year to Find Love Online

 

The year 2020 will go down as one of the most challenging and gut-wrenchingly painful years in history with COVID-19 at heightened levels on New Year’s Eve, but it turned out to be one of the most active years for singles looking for love online.

The New York Times reports singles who are quarantining are proposing, and engagement ring sales are up, and OkCupid predicts more than 15 million new conversations around Dating Sunday this year, with 25 million new matches expected in January alone. 

Virtual dating took center stage as we zoomed and FaceTimed our way to navigate love.

Today, on Dating Sunday, 2021, the activity level for singles on dating apps is expected to hit record numbers, and you won’t want to miss this worldwide digital party.

What is Dating Sunday?

Every year, the first Sunday after the New Year is the day where singles who decided to put finding love at the top of their resolutions list, log on looking for love. For those who rang in the New Year solo, had a recent breakup, or have Valentine’s Day on their minds, Dating Sunday is the day where your digital dreams can come true. 

Due to the pandemic, I’ve found the perspective on finding a meaningful relationship is magnified.  Many of us are still stuck at home with travel and fine dining on the back burner, so today’s the day to revise your dating profile, add a few photos of your socially-distanced walks, post one with your favorite mask, and get ready to start chatting.

Our ongoing poll on DatingintheAgeofCovid19.com shows that 82% of singles want a long-term relationship more than ever. 

Tonight, you might even want to dress up from the waist up, with the likelihood of your conversation moving to an impromptu video date. (Hint: Keep lipstick handy). 

The most active time to be online is approximately 9pm, local time. 

With this in mind, here’s how to master Dating Sunday.

• Update Your Profile  – Last year’s story shouldn’t follow you into 2021. By showing that you’re active now, it sends the message that you’re taking finding love seriously. If you’re listing vacations or group events, it’s time to update your profile to show you’re dating responsibly and have high hopes for the New Year.

 

• Reach Out and Connect – Don’t play the waiting game. Initiate contact first, respond quickly, and even reconnect with someone where the conversation faded in 2020. It’s still a good time to wish someone you previously chatted with a “Happy New Year,” because we could all use some joy and happiness right now.

 

• Use Spell-Check and Grammar Check – Sloppy messages that say, “Hey,” won’t cut it. You’re home, and you have time to craft the perfect five-sentence message. Remember to ask a question so that you can create a dialog and develop a flirty rapport.

 

• Create a Fun Virtual Background – Dating should be fun, and both you, and your surroundings need to look your best. Find a virtual background that matches your personality, and if you prefer a virtual date on the fly, make sure your surroundings are free of clutter. Bumble reports in-app video calls increased by 70% since March, so you can easily chat within their platform.

 

• Know Your Intentions – A new year is the time to take inventory on the type of relationship you truly desire.  If someone’s profile states they’re looking for something casual, swipe left if your goal is to find a serious relationship or marriage.  It’s time to toss the crumbs in the trash, because wasting your time with someone who doesn’t have the same relationship goals will prevent you from having the amazing love you deserve. 

Put a smile on your face, and think about some of the positive activities you experienced in 2020 to share with someone new. From binge-watching Schitt’s Creek to taking a painting class or bike riding, it’s time to push the restart button with the help of your mobile phone. 

The Match Group saw a 40% increase in usage on Dating Sunday last year and Coffee Meets Bagel saw a 60% spike in new sign ups on Dating Sunday in 2020. Tonight is show time. It’s the “Super Bowl” of dating, leading up to Valentine’s Day.

If you need some hand-holding, find out how our Irresistible Profiles and VIP Digital Matchmaker programs can help you find love online in the new year. 

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may swipe or roam. 

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and the founder of Cyber-Dating Expert. She’s been coaching singles on finding love online for over 25 years. Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter and Instagram. Sign up for the FREE Digital Flirt Newsletter. 

How to Verify Your Bumble Profile

There’s a great feature on the Bumble dating app that allows you to verify your profile, by taking a selfie that matches their model’s pose on the app.

Verification features help singles date safely and help everyone feel comfortable about authenticity in dating.

Bumble had announced the photo verification feature on the Beehive Blog in 2017, to help prevent catfishing, but now they’ve taken it a step further. If you failed the simple photo verification test, or if you’ve been reported by another user as a potential fake member, your profile might not remain active until you retake it.

Since we feel strongly about dating safety, as do the online dating sites and mobile dating apps, we believe this added step from Bumble is essential. Plus, how can someone find you if you have a hidden profile?

Here are the simple steps to get verified on Bumble.

1. Open the Bumble app on your mobile phone. You’ll have the opportunity to use one of three services, Bumble Date, or the original Bumble, Bumble BFF to find new friends and to go into social networking mode, and Bumble Bizz, to grow your business like you would on Linkedin.

2. Look for the Get Verified Button

3. If you failed the verification test, you’ll get this pop up notification when you log on, so it’s time to try it again.

4. Strike a Pose to Match their model’s pose. It’s typically one where you’re waving your hand up to say hello and send the photo to Bumble. The Bumble team actually has a real person who verifies that your photo looks similar the ones you’ve added to your profile.

 

 

 

5. You’re now verified! Your Bumble profile will appear in searches, so get ready to swipe to find someone special to meet IRL.

If you need help with your Bumble profile, find out how our Swiping Right mobile dating profiles can help you find a date, a friend, or a business contact through the convenience of your mobile phone.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating and Mobile Dating Expert. She’s the CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert and has been coaching singles on finding love online for almost 25 years.

FOLLOW @JulieSpira on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

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Facebook for Dating? Julie Spira Weighs in on HLN

This week, Facebook announced they’d like to play Cupid by starting an online dating service on the social media giant.

While the reaction in the media was as if an earthquake had hit, I wasn’t shocked at all.

As a social network with over 200 million singles listing their relationship status as “single,” it’s a potentially large market for Facebook, who could have been the world’s largest dating site if they wanted to be.

On HLN-TV, I discussed the news with Michaela Pereira, as well as the timing of their announcement.

Watch the Full Video Here

With the Facebook data breach, DATA has become a four-letter word. Singles and sites are concerned.

So will Facebook replace your favorite dating app or site? Absolutely not.

I believe this announcement gives credibility to the online dating and mobile dating apps industry. Plus it would be good for dating sites and Facebook to find a way to collaborate.

Dating sites have mastered the algorithms to give you the best dates possible.

RELATED: Match Singles in America Study Reveals if Singles Click “Add Friend” Before a Date

Sites such as Match, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, and apps such as Tinder, Grindr, Happn, Hinge, and Bumble are doing a great job of connecting singles.

Keep in mind; most singles are joining more than one site, typically three.

There are the niche sites such as Farmer’s Only, Our Time, and JDate that focus on lifestyle, age, and religion, that many singles are finding love on.

This proposed service allows those who “opt-in” to agree to be a part of the new Facebook dating platform when it launches, giving you the opportunity to say yes, or no.

Facebook reports they are working on the essential issues of safety and security, which is vital for everyone looking for love online.

Five years ago, I created Facebook Love Stories, as a site to share stories of couples who found love through some of the features of Facebook. Finding a long-lost-love, or connecting through a friend-of-a-friend has been going on since the beginning of Facebook.

Dating on social media, or social dating is real. You can find love on Twitter and Instagram, and many have.

RELATED: Rules of Netiquette: Dating in a Facebook World

Would you use Facebook as a dating platform option?

Your comments are welcome.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and Digital Matchmaker. She’s the CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert, and was an early adopter of Internet dating, helping singles find love online for over 20 years.

FOLLOW @JulieSpira on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

SIGN UP for the FREE Weekly Flirt for dating advice delivered to your inbox.

Bumble App Bans Gun Photos to Help Singles Date Safer

One thing you can say about Bumble, is they take dating safely seriously.

Bumble has been known for removing profile photos with hate messages and has a low tolerance for inappropriate behavior.

This week, Bumble announced on their blog, they’d be removing profile photos of singles holding knives or guns to the app, in response to the shootings in Parkland, Florida.

In an interview on CBS News, I spoke with KCBS reporter Rebecca Corral about this issue of whether guns should or should not appear in a dating profile.

Listen to the full interview here:

 

Rebecca:  One of the fastest growing dating apps is banning pictures of guns from user profiles. The founder of Bumble, a dating app where women have to message first, tells The New York Times that the move is in response to the recent string of mass shootings. The policy will mirror how Bumble handles nudity in photos and will only provide an exemption for users with military or law enforcement backgrounds who post pictures of themselves carrying firearms in uniform.

For more on the decision, we’re joined on the case KCBS Central Newsline by Julie Spira, a dating expert and founder of cyberdatingexpert.com Thanks very much for talking to us. What do you think?

Julie: I think it’s a great idea because people come to me, and one of the first questions they ask me is, “Julie, is online dating safe?” Bumble is taking the position that they want women to feel safer, we want everyone to feel safer.

If you see an image of somebody holding a deadly weapon, a knife or a firearm, you have the opportunity now to report that profile as suspicious, no differently than you would report their profile for hate speech.

Rebecca: On the other hand, if someone values their weapons so much that they want to take a picture of themselves posing with it, don’t you think somebody wants to know that about that guy?

Julie: That is one of the issues, because what happens is if somebody might want to swipe left on someone if they don’t agree with the gun issue.

Maybe someone will write it in their profile and happen to talk about it as one of their activities and what they like. If the photos are there, they’re going to get reported.

Members have an opportunity to actually go and dispute that. There is a little loophole, though. If someone connects their Instagram account with photos of pictures of them with guns, a user can still take a peek and know where they stand.

Rebecca: Okay. Now, I believe that Bumble was also talking about not letting people talk about their guns in their profiles, is that not the case?

Julie: Well, as of now, what I saw was the ability to report photos. If somebody is saying, “I love guns and it doesn’t bother me what happened in Parkland, Florida”, they are going to get reported.

Rebecca: Where do you draw the line then on what can’t be included in these profiles? Where do we start running into one, personal expression, and two, really revealing who you really, really are?

Julie: Well, the photos, of course– Bumble takes a position, and they take a position as the app with a feminist approach, because they want women to make that first move, but anything that makes somebody uncomfortable can be reported.

They have a crew of 5,000 people who are monitoring these profiles are going to take each and every one of them with a gun down.

Rebecca: Again, I want to push the point so you can give me the counterpoint to it. I want to know if somebody wants to take a picture of himself with a knife or a gun. If I were a user, I would want to know that.

Julie: I would want to know that too. Bumble believes users with guns do not belong in their safe, kind, loving environment, because they’re promoting love and safety and respect and kindness.

Perhaps Bumble isn’t the right site for someone who is a gun-happy person, but again, if you see pictures in somebody’s Instagram profile and they’re connected, they’re not going to delete that profile based upon an Instagram photo with a gun. If someone really wants to show that this is who they are, you can find out by looking at their Instagram account.

Rebecca: All right, Julie, thanks very much for talking to us, appreciate it. Julie Spira is a dating expert, she’s the founder of cyberdatingexpert.com.

Side note: Bumble graciously donated $100,000 to “March for Our Lives” and will not remove photos of those who are in law enforcement or the military.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and Digital Matchmaker. She’s the CEO and founder of Cyber-Dating Expert and has been coaching singles on finding love online for almost 25 years.

FOLLOW @JulieSpira for dating advice, and SIGN UP for the Free Weekly Flirt Newsletter

Julie Spira – ABC News – Valentine’s Survival Guide

 

With Valentine’s Day just a week away, I sat down with ABC-7’s Coleen Sullivan and Ellen Leyva with a Valentine’s Survival Guide to get you to and through the most romantic day of the year.

Can you find love online in time for Valentine’s Day?

I say yes! With the convenience of your mobile phone, we’ll have you chatting and dating in a digital split second.

Here are 10 Tips to Help You Survive Valentine’s Day With a Hug and a Smile

• Sign up for a Mobile Dating App – Use your Facebook photos to create a new profile and say “love is in the air.” Have a friend or a dating coach like myself help you with your profile.

 

• Become a serial dater – This is the time I give you permission to date up a storm. Schedule one date a day until Valentine’s Day. Double-down and schedule two dates a day, where one will surely rise to the top and be worthy of a second date.

 

• Use Premium Features – Match shows you peak times, where their Top Spot feature will show your profile to get the most visibility for just a few hours. OkCupid’s Boost feature will do the same for 15 minutes.

 

• Give your date a card – A hand signed card or a love note will warm his or her heart for all dating stages.

 

• Don’t forget Flowers – Two billion dollars will be spent on Valentine’s Day flowers this year. Bring one long-stemmed rose or a dozen tulips to have the same effect, while not breaking the bank.

 

• Say ‘I Love You’ – If you’re relationship is moving forward, there’s no better time to profess your love than on Valentine’s Day.

 

• Choose In-Room Dining or Cook a Meal Together – If you’ve waited too long to make a reservation at his or her favorite place, pick up some prepared meals at the grocery store, or ingredients for a spicy romantic dinner. Remember to bring candles.

 

• The gift of time – Valentine’s Day is about spending quality time together, and there’s not better gift than just being together.

 

• Valentine’s Breakups – It’s not a great idea, but if your relationship has been sliding downhill since the past holiday season, have a talk with your significant other, sooner rather than later. Valentine’s Day can be filled with pressure, so be kind about it and if you’re going to call it quits, do so in person, and not on the phone, email, or in a text message.

 

• Singles Awareness Day is on February 15th – If you’re not in the mood to find a Valentine and hate the holiday, there’s no need to fret. The day after will be a holiday to celebrate your single status.

Don’t let the pressure get to you about Valentine’s Day. Some people are still paying off their credit cards from December gift giving. A study shows that 54% plan to spend less than $100 and only 10% of singles spend over $250 on Valentine’s Day.

A survey from OneHourTranslation.com of over 4000 people around the world, showed that 31% plan to purchase their gifts online this year, so there’s still time to send something romantic to your Valentine or digital crush.

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam.

FOLLOW @JulieSpira on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and Digital Matchmaker. She’s the CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert and is an award-winning dating coach who’s been helping singles on finding love online for over 24 years. 

SIGN UP for the FREE Weekly Flirt for dating advice delivered to your inbox.

 

 

Julie Spira on KTLA With New Mobile App Features

Many thanks to KTLA’s Rich DeMuro, who interviewed me for this fun segment on mobile dating on Tech Report.

We talked about new features on mobile dating apps to speed up your search to find a Valentine’s date. Watch this video to learn about the latest tips to better your odds on Match, Bumble, and Tinder apps.

Mobile dating apps are all the rage. There are new niche dating apps to help you find a Valentine.  Are you making the most of these popular and apps?

READ MORE: KTLA: Original Post: Matchmaking Apps Add New Features To Help You Find a Date Fast

MATCH – The world’s largest dating site has been rolling out new features for their members.

• Top Spot – For $2.99, your profile will appear at the top of a search for 60 minutes. Match says you’ll get three times more views with this feature.  You’ll also appear the in top 6 search results when members are searching for someone like you. You can view the countdown of the time remaining during your Top Spot session.  They actually show you the photos of who has viewed you in your search. You’ll also receive an activity summary via email once your session has expired.

• Missed Connections – This free mobile only feature helps you fill your date card faster after you’ve crossed paths with them. You’ll be matched with others who could have been in the same restaurant, supermarket, etc.  You’ll have to opt-in to use this feature on your mobile app when it appears. Match says this will be less creepy that the old Craig’s List “Missed Connections” (we hope so). It’s similar to Happn’s location-based app, which is solely based on matching you with people you’ve crossed paths with. The trend of meeting IRL is important to dating apps and sites, to avoid ghosting, breadcrumbing, or just endless chats.

READ MORE: Match Adds New Missed Connections Feature

BUMBLE – This bumble bee hive apps let’s women make the first move. I call it the “Sadie Hawkins” of digital dating. Users set their distance and age parameters and start viewing matches. A simple swipe to the right says you’re interested. A swipe to the left says you’re not. If both parties swipe right, you’ll appear in the match queue, where the woman needs to strike up a chat within 24 hours. Once the match gets notified, they have to reply in 24 hours to get the chat going. If you swipe left in error, don’t worry. You get three free “backtracks” a day,  where you shake your phone to see the photo you swiped left to.

READ MORE: KTLA: Original Post: Matchmaking Apps Add New Features To Help You Find a Date Fast

Bumble Boost, their paid service, has a variety of pricing levels of one, three, or six months, or one year. 

Bumble Boost has some fun premium features including:

• Beeline: You’ll see people who’ve liked you when you open up the app, instead of waiting to swipe right through profiles.
• Rematch: You can get matched again with someone you didn’t have time to start a convo with. Those profiles will have a grey circle around them.
• Extended Rematches: If you’re a busy bee, you can have unlimited extensions on your match. But then again, if you have time to open the app and extend, why not just say hello?

READ MORE: Bumble Makes Men Reply or Match Disappears

BumbleVid is their newest feature.  You can post 10-second videos to your profile that will be deleted in 24 hours.  I call it dating in a snapchat world.

TINDER – Tinder is losing the perception of only being a hook up app.  Tinder reports that 80 % of their users are looking for something more meaningful. Plus they’re seeing 1.4 billion swipes a day!

• Smart Photos: This new feature will select your best photo and make it your primary profile shot. So if that selfie in the mirror doesn’t cut it, it will be moved to a secondary photo. It’s great because your best face will appear in a search.

READ MORE: Tinder Love Story: Adriana and Dave

Tinder Plus: This premium service costs about $9.99/month.  You’ll get unlimited swipes, as compared to the free service. You’ll can also get back your last left swipe with their rewind feature, as often as you like.

• Passport: Planning a trip and looking to fill your date card before you arrive? Passport allows you to add other locations to search for and to appear in a search. Remember, dating apps are location-based, so your searches will show where you’re hanging out now. Just add a new city in a search and it will be on your Passport in your settings.

At the end of the digital day, there are an enormous amount of mobile dating apps. The average person using dating apps has downloaded 3.5 apps.

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may swipe or roam. xo

Need a little help with your dating life? Find out how our Irresistible Coaching will help you find your dream date.

FOLLOW @Julie Spira on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

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12 Best Mobile Apps For 8 Different Dating Goals

We know that everyone is looking for something different when it comes to matters of the heart.

With that in mind, there is no one-size-fits-all formula or perfect dating site for everyone and the average mobile dating app user is active on 3.5 mobile dating apps!

When reporter Chrissie Russell interviewed me as the dating expert for a special Valentine’s issue of the Irish Independent’s weekend magazine, I provided a list on how people can find the right dating website or app for them. The feature is called “Finding the Most Appealing Dating Technology.”

If you can’t pick up a copy of the magazine, here are some highlights that were featured.

Dating Apps for Different Relationship Goals

1. The Young Professional: Match is a great choice because of the large amount of members worldwide. You can search by his or her profession and list your profession in your profile choices. Hinge is a dating app geared towards young professionals and recently they eliminated the swiping feature to differentiate them from Tinder. Now they’re calling themselves, the relationship app.

READ MORE: Match Adds Misconnections Feature

2. Someone a Bit Cynical About Online Dating and Apps: If you’re cynical, have some fun with some niche dating apps such as Bristlr for women who fancy men with facial hair, Align to match you based on astrology, or Gluten Free Singles for the gluten-fee intolerant.

3. Someone Just Looking for Fun: Tinder started out with most of the users swiping right to hook up. Now they say 80% of their members are looking for a meaningful relationship. Read the mini bios on the profiles to see if you should swipe right or left to find someone fun to hang out with.

READ MORE: These Names Will Get You More Right Swipes on Tinder

4. Someone Who Wants Companionship: Many sites and apps will help you find friends. The Bumble app has a BFF feature, where you can switch from looking for a relationship, to looking for a friend to hang out with for a non-dating experience. They call it switching to the friend zone.  OkCupid also gives you a choice of searching for New Friends, Casual-Dating, Long-Term Dating, or Casual Sex. Happn is a great app, because it matches you based on who you’ve crossed paths with, as they are a geo-location app.

5. Someone Divorced or Widowed and a Bit Apprehensive of Online Dating: If you’re starting over and don’t want to be bombarded with cubs looking for cougars and might want to meet someone more serious, eHarmony, a name that’s been around since 2000 would be the way to go. They allow you to take your time in communicating with potential dates.

READ MORE: Bumble App Now Helps You Find Your BFF

6. Someone Sporty Who Wants to Avoid the Bar Scene: Avoiding the bar scene is high on a lot of singles’ lists. Any site or app that has a chat feature would be good to have a virtual drink date. You can both grab a glass of bubbly or your favorite spirit and chat. If you’re a workout fanatic,, try the new Sweatt app for fitness enthusiasts.

7. Gay or Bi-Curious: Grindr was the original app for gay men, but these days many sites allow you to search based on your sexual preferences. Check out OkCupid, where in the drop down menu of your profile you can state if you’re Straight, Gay, or Bi-sexual. Click the more button and you’ll find a wider selection including Asexual, Demisexual, Heteroflexible, Homosexual, Lesbian, Pansexual, Queer, Questioning, and Sapiosexual. That’s a pretty full menu. Tinder just added a new gender feature, which includes transgender relationships.

8. Someone Not Very Good with Technology: For those technically challenged, they won’t be happy with any site. I suggest they enlist the help of a dating coach with experience in this area. A recent PEW research study showed that 30% of women had someone write their profiles. If you really can’t stomach logging on and swiping right, find a professional who can do this. As one who’s been been coaching singles for over 20 years, I do the work for many busy CEOs, or technically challenged singles, to be their digital wing woman. It solves the goal of meeting someone, while not having to be attached to the push notifications on your cell phones.

READ MORE: Find out How Irresistible Profiles Will Help You Find Your Dream Date

About Julie:

Julie Spira is the world’s top online and mobile dating expert. As an early adopter of the Internet, Julie has been coaching singles on finding love online for over 20 years. She’s the CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert and ranks as the most influential person in social media in the categories of “dating” and “online dating.” Julie’s the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online and is the go-to person in the media, having appeared in over 1000 stories on the intersection of dating and technology. She was the winner of the 2017 iDate Awards for Best Dating Coach.  She’s also listed as one of the top 10 columnists to follow on Twitter.

FOLLOW @JulieSpira on Twitter and Instagram.

Mobile Dating App Use Will Be High over Thanksgiving Weekend

Hang tight to your mobile phone this weekend.

Whether you’re feeling holiday love or holiday blues, one thing is for sure for singles who’d like to change their relationship status, they’ll be logging on and swiping right BIG TIME over Thanksgiving weekend and it might be a perfect time to reach out to your hometown sweetheart from years ago for a little reunion.

As a mobile dating expert, I always recommend keeping your location based app on to meet new people when you’re traveling or to change your zip code to the destination you’ll be going to in advance on your dating profile.

Tinder Sociologist and Cyber-Dating Expert friend Dr. Jess Carbino says, “People typically tend to be attracted to those with a similar demographic background – from age, occupation, education and more.Individuals who grow up in the same areas are more likely to have shared experiences, making home a great place for singles with similar values to connect.”

It’s Cuffing Season

I know it’s difficult being at the Thanksgiving table with your relatives asking you if you’re dating anyone special.  Add to it all of the holiday ornaments are going up earlier every year and the need to bundle up is at an all time high. This is why Cuffing season, when couples tend to connect leading up to the holidays has become a relationship phenomenon.

Our friends at Tinder have told us use of their mobile dating app increases during Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, they reported over 2.3 million swipes in the U.S. with over 17 million matches. That’s an increase of 23% compared to non-holiday weekends. So get ready to log on and swipe big time on your favorite mobile apps including Bumble, Grindr, Tinder, Zoosk, Match, OkCupid and more.

So if the family conversation is getting on your nerves, or if you’ve eaten too much turkey, excuse yourself and go into a room and get ready for a swiping frenzy this holiday weekend. If you haven’t hopped on a plane yet, change your search to the city you’ll be spending the holiday in or activate the Passport feature on Tinder to fill up your date card.

It’s Breakup Season

Remember, this time of year is filled with emotions. It’s also breakup season (ouch). Yes, couples who look deliriously happy on Facebook are breaking up around Thanksgiving and a whole new group of amazing people are feeling like you are. Single again.

We featured David McClandess’ Facebook Breakup Chart when it first came out a few years ago, but if you look at the spike in breakups, it starts around Thanksgiving and goes until just before Christmas. This was based on relationship status changes on Facebook.

Related: Deadly Breakup Obsessions

So let your mobile phone be your BFF this holiday weekend and give yourself permission to be attached to the phone before and after dinner.

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam. xo

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter and Instagram for dating advice and love quotes.

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This New Tinder Feature Will Help You Stand Out

Are you tired of swiping right on Tinder and waiting for a match to appear? Do you feel like you’re in a numbers game and it’s no longer fun to play anymore?

If you feel this way, you’re not alone.

Tinder has announced on their blog, a new feature rolling out called ‘Tinder Boost’ to help you appear at the top of a match search. This new feature will help you “skip the line,” so they say and will allow you to be viewed as a top profile for 30 minutes to increase your chances of getting a mutual match.

Related: Why You Won’t Delete Tinder When You’ve Found The One

Here’s how Tinder Boost Works

1. Make sure you’re in Tinder Mode (turn off the social feature)

2. A pop-up will appear asking if you want to skip the line.

3. Sign up for Boost and you’ve got 10 minutes to be in premium mode.

4. Watch the countdown clock and make sure you make the most of your 10 minutes.

5. Start matching, chatting, and meeting IRL.

Related: Bumble Makes Men Reply or the Match Disappears

P.S. Tinder Plus members get one free boost a week, so we suggest you use it on a Sunday or Monday night, where singles have either had a weekend of bad dates or were dateless and want to change that before the upcoming weekend.

Tinder’s sisters dating sites/apps Match and OkCupid are already charging singles to appear during peak hours and the Bumble dating app also has a boost premium feature.  The Tinder mega mobile dating app is now testing their boost service in Australia and will hopefully be in the U.S. soon.

Will you pay more on a mobile app to appear higher in a search?

Your comments are welcome.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating and Mobile Dating Expert. She’s the CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert and has been coaching singles on finding love online for over two decades.

For dating advice, follow @JulieSpira on Twitter and Instagram, and sign up for the Free Weekly Flirt newsletter.

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