The online dating market is changing fast, and it’s been noticed even by those who aren’t part of the industry. New platforms to search for matches are appearing, existing services are being aggressively promoted, major market players continually introduce new functionality and try to involve more and more users in every possible way. All this has only intensified against the backdrop of the pandemic. And it’s probably only the beginning.

Today we’d like to examine the most significant changes and innovations in the field of online dating, find out why Tinder and its counterparts are increasingly losing ground, and also understand how the industry will develop in the near future. It’ll be an interesting journey!

Tinder: its descent from the largest dating app to fading glory

Tinder is one of the largest dating services in existence. And over the past year, due to the pandemic, it has only expanded its audience. So why then do we call it a questionable product? There are several reasons:

  1. Paid features. We’re not against the monetization of the service, quite the opposite. But when you have to literally pay for every single action, it’s too much.
  2. Limited search. Tinder works based on location and user photos.Can you rely on making a good match based only on this? Not really.
  3. Uniformity and routine. Most modern dating apps are identical to Tinder, but in a different wrapper. Tinder format itself has already bored everyone and turned into routine left-right swipes. And so-called innovations, such as the video chat function, have been available on other sites for a long time.

Local problems are also hidden behind global problems. Users are increasingly complaining about interruptions in the Tinder application, glitches and bugs, inability to log into their accounts, sudden blocks, unexpected money withdrawals, and more. The app is currently rated 3.3 stars on Google Play and 3.7 stars on the App Store. Even Tinder’s direct competitor, Badoo, has better ratings — 4 stars on Google Play and 4.4 stars on the App Store.

The trend of more and more users moving from multi-million-user dating sites to more niche ones with a much smaller audience is interesting. We can see how sites almost no one had heard of before are rapidly expanding:

  • S’More — an application in which you can’t immediately see the photo of the other person, as their photo is very blurry. But as you communicate and get to know each other better, their photo gets clearer. The main concept of S’More is not to judge people only by their appearance, as is the case on Tinder.
  • So Synced — an application that analyzes your personality type and, based on it, tries to find the most suitable partner. All you have to do is take a free 5-minute personality test, and in seconds you’ll see the results.
  • Feels — a dating platform based on common hobbies, interests and creativity. Feels developers have refused to implement swipes and other familiar tools. Here you can post photos and videos, leave reactions, send stickers, gifs and clips in discussions, and interact with other users in a variety of ways.
  • ​​Tillybom — a novelty in the online dating segment. The application is more like a regular messenger. You launch it, select “People nearby” and you can write to anyone you like. Additionally, you can specify the gender for the search, set a desired age, etc.
  • Eden — a rather unusual dating app for practising Christians. On it, you can not only get acquainted and chat, as in a classic dating application, but also listen to Christian music, read prayers and more together.
  • Raya — considered to be almost the most secret dating service. There are a lot of famous personalities here: actors, musicians, photographers and so on. Cara Delevingne, Sharon Stone and other stars have already been spotted here. To get into the ranks of Raya users, you either need to get a recommendation from one of the participants, or you have to show your promoted Instagram.

All these sites attract attention with their originality, non-standard approach to the very principle of dating on the Internet and real differences from the banal Tinder, Badoo, OkCupid and others. People want something new, and these sites provide it

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Online video chats: everything new is old and rediscovered

Many people won’t even remember when they first found out about online video chat sites. About twelve years have passed since they first appeared — the first chat roulettes, Omegle and Chatroulette, appeared in 2009. Since then, they’ve experienced ups and downs, and have been loved and hated. Most importantly, they created a completely new dating format that hundreds of platforms use today.

Imperfect Omegle and its best alternatives

The main function of Omegle is to connect random users via webcam. The site offers several convenient tools: search by interests, choice of communication language, a separate chat for university students, and so on. But none of those are new to anyone now. Omegle still has too many disadvantages:

  • mediocre moderation
  • no gender and geographic search filters
  • only a web version (mobile apps don’t exist)
  • slightly outdated design in comparison with alternatives
  • an abundance of fakes, bots, scammers and problem users

Is it any surprise that users are now much more likely to choose Omegle alternatives? A lot of these have appeared over the past decade. And some managed to easily surpass the old-timers and offer users really excellent functionality.

  • Chatrandom — an online video chat with a search for chat partners by interest, plus a few more interesting features. Here, for example, you can specify your gender so that the system finds you better matches. Also, you can choose not only “Man” or “Woman”, but also “Couple” or “Transgender”. Fans of like-minded company can visit chat rooms matching their interests. And connoisseurs of flirting and communication with girls can go to a separate room, though only premium account owners have access to this.
  • OmeTV — at first glance, a fairly simple and even primitive chat roulette. But take a closer look and you’ll see some interesting features. Firstly, a good geographic filter with the ability to immediately specify the country to search for chat partners. Secondly, a gender filter. It’s far from perfect, but in comparison with most alternatives it’s not bad. And finally, built-in automatic translation of messages into the selected language. Very handy if you want to chat with foreign language speakers.
  • CooMeet — one of the best Omegle alternatives for those who dream of meeting pretty and interesting girls. The CooMeet developers have taken a very responsible approach to the issues of moderation, anonymity and security. Fakes and bots are absent here, and all because the girls must confirm their identity when registering. This means that scammers, Internet trolls and other dubious people are not hiding behind women’s accounts. In addition, CooMeet has handy apps for iOS and Android.
  • Chathub — another popular video chat site which, unfortunately, does not have a mobile app. The developers have focused on anonymity and confidentiality, and have devoted a lot of time and effort to moderation. Useful settings include gender and language filters. Otherwise, Chathub is not much different from Omegle or Chatroulette. But the mobile version of the site works much better — faster and without interruptions.
  • Emeraldchat — a video chat that combines the functions of a chat site, instant messenger and even a social network. You can communicate here one-on-one in text or video chat, and there are also group text chats. Emeraldchat also has an interest matching system. In chat, you can not only chat by text, but also exchange photos or media files. In the near future, the developers promise to release mobile applications for iOS and Android.
  • Bazoocam — a video chat and video streaming service. It’s difficult to say which of its functions is more popular with users. The streams in most cases are quite explicit and are intended only for users over 18 years old. However, chat roulette is more traditional and differs from Omegle only in the presence of online mini-games. Bazoocam does not have a mobile application, and the web version today looks even more outdated than Omegle. Nevertheless, the chat audience is still quite large.

Why is the online dating industry changing so rapidly, and what happens next?

With the advent of the Internet, the basic principles of human communication have changed. The ability in one click to contact and talk with a person from almost anywhere in the world has forever changed the psychology of communication. And it keeps changing it right now. For many of us, trying to get to know each other in person now already seems a little awkward. But just 5-10 years ago it was quite common.

The emergence of different platforms for online communication happens regularly now. As well as the fact that new services are actively replacing the old-timers. Modern people are constantly in search of new products and unusual solutions. Anyone who can offer them will benefit.

It’s hard to say what the online dating industry will look like in one, five or ten years. But if the current trend continues, offline dating will soon become a strange novelty. It is not for us to judge whether that’s good or bad, but positive or not, this progress can’t be reversed.