Looking for Love Post-Lockdown? Niche Dating Apps Are the Next Big Thing Designed to pair up pet owners, runners, vegetarians, gamers and even astrology zealots, super-specific dating apps are helping singles find common ground quickly now that we’re no longer confined https://www.wsj.com/articles/lookin...-next-big-thing-11627639200?mod=hp_listc_pos1 excerpt AFTER A LONG and lonely lockdown, Theresa Causa was ready for love. To find it, the 40-year-old nurse practitioner in San Antonio turned to the new dating app “S’More,” which helps users pair up by literally shifting the focus from physical appearances to mutual goals and interests. When matches first connect, they see only blurred versions of each other’s profile photos, along with bios, hobbies and answers to prompts like “What are your top 3 qualities in a match?” As they exchange messages, their photos gradually un-blur. “I was, like, ‘This is for me,’” said Ms. Causa. “I wanted to look for something less superficial. I didn’t want any games. I’m done with games.” After a few weeks, she matched with her now-partner. “It’s what I prayed for, I’m not kidding you.” Now that singles of all ages can date again less riskily in much of the country—including those rebounding after a spike in the divorce rate during the pandemic’s early months—an increasing number are opting for apps that narrowcast. The goal: to more efficiently find partners whose passions or identities overlap closely with theirs. The options range from apps for those committed to sobriety (Loosid) and people on the autism spectrum (Hiki), to matchmakers for fitness buffs (TeamUp), dog lovers (Dig) gamers (Kippo), vegetarians (Veggly) and amateur astrologists (Stars Align, NUiT and the Pattern). It’s not an entirely new concept: Christian Mingle was launched in 2001, while Grindr, an app for gay men, made its debut in 2009 and Tastebuds, which matches people based on their taste in music, showed up in 2010. But these more-specific-than-Tinder options “never really got the kind of traction I’m seeing right now,” said Julie Spira, author of “The Perils of Cyber-Dating” and founder of an online dating-advice company. “The space is exploding,” she said. Today, there are over 420 dating apps on the Google Play and iOS app stores, according to analytics firm App Annie. Ms. Spira says that developers of niche sites are responding to a growing demand. After 16 months of having “all the time in the world to think about what they want, what they don’t want and what went wrong in their last relationship,” she explained, people are realizing what their priorities are. Now they “want to focus on the things that are important to their lifestyle and core values.” Ms. Spira has found that many of the clients who seek her advice are using niche options to supplement, rather than replace, mass-market services like Match, Bumble and Hinge. As she points out, the odds of clicking with someone might be better on apps that pre-filter based on your mutual love of travel or fitness, but their generally smaller user bases can still be limiting. Here, our favorite new apps that are helping turn 2021’s more torrid months into the summer of micro-focused love. more at the link
Am I a bad person for immediately thinking lesser of people who bring up their astrology sign? And when I say lesser, I mean by a lot
Scorpios dominate them secretly. (No real insecure, apologetic thoughts) That is a big mouth. It's all act.
