Tinder and the new dating game

Profiles are as old hat as email; the new dating game is about swiping pictures left and right:the NY Times has the story... Led by Tinder, the Mobile Dating Game Surges

"Online dating, long dominated by big outfits like Match.com and eHarmony, has in the last two years been transformed by the rise of Tinder, the mobile phone app that lets its users scan photos and short profiles of potential dates.

Then, as easy as a swipe of a finger, you can decide if you want to chat or pass on a prospect.

But Tinder’s free app isn’t the only mobile dating game in town. Many app makers are trying to capitalize on the Tinder method of simple, smartphone-based dating. Of course, they add a twist to the swipe.

An app called Hinge sifts only through your Facebook connections for friends of friends. Clover offers Tinder-like features but with an added, if dubious, bonus called “On-Demand Dating.” Think Uber for dating — you pick a location and a date, and Clover sends someone to meet you.

And there are others with variations on the theme, including How About We, where you pose an idea for a fun date and see who bites, and the League, sort of a mobile dating app for the 1 percent: it promotes exclusivity and a carefully selected clientele.Continue reading the main story

“Because there’s such an increase in smartphone usage, it directly relates to the increase in dating app usage,” said Julie Spira, an online dating guru who runs a site called Cyber-Dating Expert. “People are dating on the fly, they’re dating in real time, they’re hooking up or meeting for dates, they’re doing both. Same day, same hour.”