The online world of romance is <a href="https://mashable.com/article/tinder-future-of-dating-2023-gen-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changing</a> as young users demand more from their dating apps, but the question remains as to whether these changes will make a difference in the overall sense of isolation affecting young people. 
Young people have grown accustomed to using the internet to find love, and more recently, to discover friendships. Potential relationships are endlessly dangled in front of users, but this can prove altogether overwhelming. As it provides a constant, inescapable reminder of the countless possible connections at one’s fingertips, the internet can further deepen the feelings of loneliness hanging over this generation.
Over the course of the past several years, online dating has moved from a solitary practice sometimes met with stigma to a more common way to find a romantic partner. The number of people using online dating techniques has held steady in recent years. According to a Pew <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/02/02/key-findings-about-online-dating-in-the-u-s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Research</a> survey from 2022, 30% of U.S. adults said they had “ever used a dating site or an app,” which was the same as three years prior. The most popular service was Tinder, with around 46% of respondents saying they had utilized it. The app recently released its Future of Dating Report, which <a href="https://www.tinderpressroom.com/2023-05-22-WELCOME-TO-A-RENAISSANCE-IN-DATING,-DRIVEN-BY-AUTHENTICITY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> that people in Generation Z are more interested in making sure they are taking care of themselves when it comes to dating — and are interested in finding romantic partners <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-dating-app-for-young-conservatives-made-by-former-top-trump-aide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who agree</a>. This demographic also puts certain characteristics on a pedestal, like loyalty and respect — coming in at 79% and 78%; and 61% of them put a high value on open-mindedness.
Tinder’s Global Relationship Insights Expert, Paul Brunson, sees promise in the new generation’s dating style. Brunson stated that “Gen Z will have the most successful marriages yet. Why? Because they’re investing in emotional well-being and clear communication.”
Yet despite the positive outlook and high rates of activity on these apps, users are not entirely satisfied with their results. A recent Currys <a href="https://www.currys.co.uk/techtalk/mobile/modernlove2023.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> out of the United Kingdom <a href="https://www.shinyshiny.tv/2023/02/are-dating-apps-on-their-way-out-new-study-reveals-success-rates-are-dropping.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that Tinder had the highest rate of success out of 15 apps and sites. However, the notorious swipe-right/swipe-left app still had a lower success rate in 2022 than it did the year prior, a drop of about 5%. Almost every online dating venue showed a dip in reported successful relationships.
The low levels of success might be causing another movement as well. The younger generation is using dating sites for purposes other than finding romance — they are simply using them to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/24/how-gen-z-is-turning-to-dating-apps-like-bumble-bff-to-make-friends.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">make</a> friends. Bumble <a href="https://bumble.com/en-us/the-buzz/what-exactly-is-bumble-bff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BFF</a> is a new way the ladies-first dating app is helping users find friendship. Conversely, Gen Z is turning to social media sites like Instagram to romantically connect with people instead of dating apps like Tinder. According to a February <a href="https://www.ypulse.com/article/2023/02/09/gen-z-and-millennials-social-media-impacts-dating/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from YPulse, 39% of 13 to 39-year-olds had “met a romantic partner on social media.” In contrast, only 29% had found someone to date on a dating app.
Instagram’s 2023 Trend <a href="https://about.instagram.com/en-us/file/1276350079639305/TRENDREPORT_2022_fin-2.pdf/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report</a> supported this, pointing out that social media can create a more comfortable environment for people to share their feelings and emotions than being in person. “More than half of Gen Z social media users feel more comfortable being vulnerable online and over text than in person. On Instagram, DMs and messaging continue to drive connection and conversation between friends and love interests,” the report noted.
Gen Z may be shifting the way they date online,  but the fact that online sources are needed to make friendly connections points to a deeper void in the social circles of young people. It could also be an indication of a change in culture: the rise of remote work and schooling has led to an inability for many people to easily find peers with whom they might connect. 
While Gen Z searches for meaningful connections, they have retreated from doing so in classic ways, such as through traditional religion. According to the<a href="https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/generation-z-future-of-faith/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> American</a> Survey Center, “Generation Z is the least religious generation yet,” with 34% of them unaffiliated with a religion. Data from the Springtide Research Institute found that one out of three Gen Z adults said they believed in a higher power, which was an increase from 2021. However, many have <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/27/why-gen-z-is-more-spiritual-and-religious-than-millennials/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that they are more interested in non-denominational and interdenominational practices rather than traditional religion. 
Even as they search for spiritual alignment and relationships over the web, this is still a generation awash in loneliness. The more connections people make over the internet does not appear to have a positive correlation with how connected they feel to those around them. In fact, the high amounts of time spent online might ultimately drag them down. According to Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from 2018, 45% of teenagers aged 13 to 17-years-old said that they were online almost constantly, with 44% saying they were on it several times a day. Almost a third of Gen Z and Millennials <a href="https://www.ypulse.com/article/2023/03/22/how-lonely-are-gen-z-and-millennials/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> they feel lonely often or all the time. 
Thanks to the internet, the opportunity for friendship and romance appears to be readily available at any time. The disheartening reality, however, is that not everyone can be reached. 
The younger generation is searching for connection — whether to a spiritual being or to one another. The internet can provide this initial spark, but it threatens to replace real interactions with a false sense of intimacy. It will ultimately be up to the users to decide if it will benefit their generation and generations to come — or not.

Social Media Illustrations

Why Gen Z Is Turning To Dating Apps To Find Friends, Fight Loneliness

Gen Z

Instagram

Millennials

Readers Pass

Relationships

Social Media

TikTok

Tinder

After being cleared of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/murder">murder</a>, former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia-tech">Virginia Tech</a> linebacker Isimemen Etute is set to play football at Iowa Western Community College this coming season.
A jury in May found Etute <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wicked-sexual-ruse-ex-football-player-cleared-for-killing-tinder-date-after-learning-match-was-a-man">not guilty</a> of murdering his Tinder date, Jerry Smith, a 40-year-old gay man who presented himself as a 21-year-old physician named Angie Renee. The athlete&#8217;s legal team said Etute was acting in self-defense when he beat Smith, claiming Etute thought Smith was reaching for a gun after the man’s true gender was revealed.
Etute&#8217;s lawyer Jimmy Turk <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34294436/former-virginia-tech-lb-isi-etute-play-iowa-community-college-being-found-not-guilty-murder">confirmed</a> to ESPN on Monday that his client is set to play for Iowa Western&#8217;s 2022 season. Turk noted that it was difficult to find a school with Division I football willing to give his client a scholarship due to the highly publicized trial.
Since the trial, Turk has suggested that Etute is the real victim in the tragedy.
“Who is the real victim here?” Turk said through tears during closing arguments of the trial, Roanoke.com <a href="https://roanoke.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-virginia-tech-football-player-isimemen-etute-found-not-guilty-in-beating-death-of-blacksburg/article_6c4b1fc6-ddf0-11ec-8abc-4f1834bc5978.html">reported</a>. “This was a wicked sexual ruse.”
Turk also told the jury Smith was a “deceitful and dishonest man” who “defrauded young men for his own sexual gratification.”
Etute and Smith linked up last year on hook-up app Tinder. Smith reportedly performed oral sex on Etute, then 18 years old, during their first meetup. Suspicious he was misled by Smith, Etute met back up a second time to try to find out Smith’s sex. After identifying Smith was indeed male, Etute repeatedly struck him in what would be a fatal beating.
Etute said he was acting in self-defense when he beat Smith, claiming he thought Smith was reaching for a gun after the man’s true gender was revealed.
Authorities said there was a knife found under a mattress, but Smith did not have a gun.
“This is one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had as a lawyer,” Turk said following the verdict.
“I’m not in shock because it’s the right verdict, but always wondering and worrying about whether you convinced 12 people,” the defense attorney continued. “That’s always nerve-wracking. I’m just thankful for this jury. It is the right decision and right now I’m still just overwhelmed.”
Following the incident, a spokesperson for Smith’s family who requested to remain anonymous <a href="https://roanoke.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/family-of-blacksburg-homicide-victim-trying-to-come-to-terms-with-his-death/article_7162ff38-c56e-11eb-afe7-37f18a5935c4.html">said</a> they were “at a loss at everything that’s going on.”
“There are horrible stories out there,” the person said. “At the end of the day, no matter what he did or didn’t do, nobody deserves what he got. Whatever happened gives nobody the right to react that way. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wicked-sexual-ruse-ex-football-player-cleared-for-killing-tinder-date-after-learning-match-was-a-man">‘Wicked Sexual Ruse’: Ex-Football Player Cleared For Killing Tinder Date After Learning Match Was A Man</a>

Isimemen Etute

Former Virginia Tech LB Who Was Cleared For Killing Tinder Date After Learning Match Was A Man Back Playing Football

Former VaTech Football Player Isi Etute, Cleared For Killing Tinder Date After Learning Match Was A Man, Back To Playing Football 

Football

Virginia Tech

Not too many people are losing sleep over the fact that Simon Leviev, better known as “The Tinder Swindler,&#8221; allegedly got a taste of his own medicine. The 31-year-old Israeli citizen reportedly got scammed for a few thousand dollars by an enterprising Instagram user.
Sources told <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2022/03/02/tinder-swindler-simon-leviev-swindled-paypal-netflix-documentary/">TMZ</a> that Leviev, who was born Shimon Hayut, got taken by a pair of scammers pretending to work for Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company Meta, which owns Instagram. A verified account user claimed she&#8217;d be able to assist Leviev and his girlfriend Kate Konlin get verified accounts of their own through her boyfriend, who worked at Meta. 
Leviev even allegedly did video calls with the boyfriend who pulled it off to look like he was working in Meta offices.
The scammer and fake Meta employee claimed he could only award Leviev the coveted blue check and delete all the fake accounts pretending to be him if Leviev sent him $6,664. According to TMZ, Leviev sent payments through two separate PayPal transactions.
Soon after, Leviev’s manager started questioning the story and checking into the alleged Meta employee. That’s when the social media scammers disappeared and deleted their accounts completely. Meta confirmed that they don’t charge money for verifying accounts. 
The reason most followers feel less than sympathetic for Leviev is because of all the people he’s conned out of money in the past. 
Netflix’s “The Tinder Swindler” takes a closer look at two of the victims Leviev cheated before he was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison in Israel for fraud and forgery in 2019. Court documents said he &#8220;defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses&#8221; in multiple cities and countries. The conman was released after just 5 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leviev allegedly cheated multiple Tinder users out of an estimated $10 million by establishing an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The 31-year-old would woo unsuspecting women with lavish private jets, vacations, dinner, and jewelry, but would be using stolen funds to finance the luxury items. After earning their trust, Leviev would pretend to be in danger from his “enemies” and would convince the women to take out massive loans on his behalf to help him. Then he’d use that money to attract the next victim.
The Netflix series explained exactly how Leviev orchestrated his cons, which included tricking women into believing he was the son of Israeli Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev, People <a href="https://people.com/crime/tinder-swindler-simon-leviev-is-sued-by-the-real-diamond-dynasty-whose-name-he-took/">reported</a>. However, the real Leviev family is now suing the “Tinder Swindler” for falsely representing them.
The lawsuit was filed in Tel Aviv and states that &#8220;for a long time, he [Simon Leviev] has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones).&#8221;
Lev Leviev&#8217;s lawyer promised this is only the first of many lawsuits.
&#8220;This legal action is only the beginning of a number of lawsuits that my firm is currently working on,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;In the next faze we will file a monetary suit against Hayut and any other affiliate that will work with him, including some websites that have Joint ventures with Hayut and/or have offered to buy cameos from him. Anyone that will try to capitalize from this scheme will be sued.&#8221;
The Daily Wire’s first original film, Shut In, has made its cinematic debut, being met with rave reviews. The Daily Wire is building an alternative to the leftist entertainment industry, one gripping movie at a time. Join us in this mission and stream Shut In today by becoming a Daily Wire<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

In this photo illustration the Instagram logo seen displayed

‘Tinder Swindler’ Simon Leviev Just Got Tricked Out Of Thousands Via Instagram Scammer: Report

Bumble

Bumble Claims 30% Of Users Won’t Date Or Have Sex With Unvaccinated People, After Dating Apps Incentivize COVID-19 Vaccine

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

On Friday, the White House announced that it has partnered with several major dating apps to encourage people seeking companionship to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/21/dating-sites-vaccination-stickers-tinder/">reported</a>, “Nine dating sites have teamed up with the Biden administration to add features that will let users show they’ve gotten their shots.”
Andy Slavitt, the White House senior advisor on the nation’s coronavirus response, told reporters on Friday that the effort is intended to target younger Americans. He added, “these sites cater to over 50 million people in the U.S. and are some of the world’s biggest non-gaming apps.”
As demand for the vaccine slows, promotional campaigns are expected to launch on the apps in the coming weeks to help meet President Joe Biden’s goal to inoculate 70% of U.S. adults with at least one COVID-19 shot by July 4.
“Social distancing and dating were always a bit of a challenging combination, but today dating sites like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa, Plenty of Fish, and Badoo are announcing a series of features to encourage vaccinations and help people meet people who have that universally attractive quality: they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19,” Slavitt said.
Slavitt went on to cite data provided by OkCupid that he said found “people who display their vaccination status are 14% more likely to get a match.”
“We have finally found the one thing that makes us all more attractive: a vaccination.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WH COVID response adviser Andy Slavitt details the dating app vaccine partnership:
• Vaccination status “badges” • Filters to see only people who are vaccinated • “Premium content” like “boosts” and “super swipes” <a href="https://t.co/GHjTfmqSwZ">pic.twitter.com/GHjTfmqSwZ</a>
&mdash; The Recount (@therecount) <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1395760549170978817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
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National Public Radio <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/999178100/single-dating-apps-are-making-it-easier-to-swipe-right-for-a-match-whos-vaccinat">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The types of new offerings will vary from site to site. Match, for example, will allow members to add a new &#8220;Vaccinated&#8221; badge to their profiles and give them a free &#8220;boost&#8221; to make their profile appear higher up in search results. BLK, the largest dating app for Black singles, will give also offer vaccinated users a boost if they add a &#8220;Vaxified&#8221; badge to their profiles. Tinder, the dating app with the most U.S. users, will also have vaccinated badges, as well as a new &#8220;Vaccine Center&#8221; to help connect users with nearby vaccination sites.
The effort to enlist dating apps in the vaccine drive is just one in a series of sometimes unorthodox measures that officials across the country have turned to in order to get more doses into arms. Maine, for example, has offered <a href="https://www.maine.gov/covid19/vaccines/getoutdoors">free hunting licenses</a> to vaccinated residents, while the governor of Ohio has started <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/05/13/996445109/ohio-raises-the-stakes-to-boost-vaccinations-offers-5-1-million-drawings">a $1 million lottery</a> for anyone who&#8217;s received at least one dose of a vaccine.</blockquote>
During a White House briefing on Tuesday, Slavitt <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-adviser-reveals-sons-covid-fight-persuade-young/story?id=77761001">revealed</a> that his 19-year-old son, Zach, is still experiencing lingering effects from COVID-19 after he first tested positive last fall.
“He’s young and fit and in the prime of his life,” Slavitt said. “But six months later, he still suffers from tachycardia, shortness of breath, and ongoing frequent flu-like symptoms. His hands are cold to the touch. Neither he nor his parents – my wife and I – are sure how long this will last.”
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations">said</a> about 161.3 million people, including more than 60% of adults, have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Less than 39% of the total population has been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

White House Advisor Says Getting COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Makes Us All More Attractive’ As Biden Admin Teams With Dating Apps

Biden Administration

A truly bizarre and frightening moment happened Monday during a murder trial in Nebraska.
Aubrey Trail, on trial for the murder of 24-year-old Sydney Loofe, slashed his own throat after shouting: &#8220;Bailey is innocent and I curse you all.&#8221;
Let&#8217;s take a step back. Trail, 52, is accused of suffocating Loofe and then dismembering her body after she went on a Tinder date with another man &#8212; Bailey Boswell (presumably the &#8220;Bailey&#8221; from his outcry above). Boswell is accused of acting as Trail&#8217;s co-conspirator and will face trial later this year, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/06/24/man-accused-of-murdering-tinder-date-slashes-his-own-throat-in-court/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter">reported</a>.
Boswell and Trail are accused of plotting Loofe&#8217;s abduction and murder. Both are charged with first-degree murder. Loofe went on a date with Boswell, 25, after meeting on the dating app Tinder. She disappeared after their date on November 15, 2017. The Post reported that Loofe&#8217;s &#8220;body was found 19 days later cut up and wrapped in trash bags.&#8221;
Fifteen days after her disappearance, on November 30, Trail and Boswell were found in a Branson, Missouri hotel and were brought back to Nebraska for a separate case of fraud, the Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/06/12/pair-charged-with-murder-of-missing-tinder-date/?">reported</a>.
In court, Trail&#8217;s attorneys argued that he had consensual sex with Loofe after her date with Boswell, but that he &#8220;accidentally asphyxiated Loofe during a consensual sex game,&#8221; the Post reported. He initially told the Lincoln Police Department that Boswell helped him cover up Loofe&#8217;s death and that he hid her body because he didn&#8217;t think anyone would believe him that her death was accidental. He did, however, plead guilty to the unlawful disposal of human remains. Boswell pleaded not guilty to that charge and the first-degree murder charge.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nebraska-murder-suspect-slashes-his-own-throat-court-n1021126">added</a> that Boswell is alleged to have used a fake name &#8211; Audrey &#8211; while communicating with Loofe on Tinder.
&#8220;Boswell was living with Trail at the time of Loofe&#8217;s disappearance and security footage revealed that the pair bought tools from Home Depot that were allegedly used to dismember Loofe, according to court documents,&#8221; NBC reported.
In addition, prosecutors alleged that Boswell reset Loofe&#8217;s phone to its factory settings two days after she disappeared.
Since his arrest, Trail has had a stroke and two heart attacks, KMTV <a href="https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/breaking-aubrey-trail-slashes-throat-in-murder-trial">reported</a>. He appeared in court in a wheelchair on Monday when he suddenly grabbed something &#8212; possibly a pen &#8212; and slashed his own throat. KMTV provided footage of the aftermath of the incident. One can see the judge addressing the jury before turning toward the defense table as two policemen rush to Trail. His attorneys and others clear the area and Trail can be seen starting to slump over.
KMTV&#8217;s video then shows a shot of the sidewalk outside the court house and paramedics removing Trail on a stretcher with blood on his neck. He was put in the ambulance to receive medical treatment for his injury.
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&#8220;It&#8217;s unclear what Trails&#8217; injuries are,&#8221; KMTV reported.
The trial resumed Tuesday morning. Trail will be handcuffed going forward. Judge Vicky Johnson, seen in the video before Trail slashed his throat, told the jury to disregard his outburst.

In this photo illustration Tinder logo seen displayed on a

Man Accused Of Dismembering Tinder Date Slashes Own Throat In Court

Murder

Nebraska

Being a Trump supporter is not always easy &#8212; especially during family holidays.
But being a MAGA-er can also hit you right where it hurts: Your love life. Dating in a big liberal city can be demoralizing, sometimes even hostile, when you&#8217;re a fan of The Donald. And if you&#8217;re looking for love on a dating app, you can expect a wave of rejection if you talk openly about your political views. In fact, on many dating apps, &#8220;Trump supporters swipe left&#8221; is a common disclaimer.
How hard is it? <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/22/trump-millennial-supporters-washington-dc-218833">Politico</a> reported an anecdote from a beleaguered 31-year-old female administration official who recounted one horror story.
<blockquote>
&#8220;You do the small talk thing, and you have a very good conversation, and then they might say, &#8216;You didn&#8217;t vote for Trump, right?&#8217;&#8221; she says. &#8220;As soon as I say, &#8216;Of course I did,&#8217; it just devolves into all-caps &#8216;HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH A RACIST AND A BIGOT?&#8217;
</blockquote>
In another story headlined &#8220;Young Trump staffers are complaining they can&#8217;t date in DC because everyone hates them,&#8221; <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-staffers-are-complain-that-they-cant-date-in-dc-2018-6">Business Insider</a> reported a couple more anecdotes.
<blockquote>
In one recent online exchange, a potential date asked her, &#8220;Do you rip babies from their mothers and then send them to Mexico?&#8221;
Yet another match on an dating app told her, &#8220;Thanks but no thanks. Just Googled you and it said you were a mouthpiece for the Trump administration. Go f&#8212; yourself.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Enter <a href="http://www.donalddaters.com">DonaldDaters</a>, a new dating app that officially launched Monday on Apple and Android that provides a platform for Trump supporters to meet and mingle, with the goal of &#8220;Making America Date Again.&#8221;
[[{&#8220;fid&#8221;:&#8221;39082&#8243;,&#8221;view_mode&#8221;:&#8221;default&#8221;,&#8221;fields&#8221;:{&#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;default&#8221;,&#8221;field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]&#8221;:false,&#8221;field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]&#8221;:&#8221;Handout&#8221;},&#8221;type&#8221;:&#8221;media&#8221;,&#8221;field_deltas&#8221;:{&#8220;1&#8221;:{&#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;default&#8221;,&#8221;field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]&#8221;:false,&#8221;field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]&#8221;:&#8221;Handout&#8221;}},&#8221;attributes&#8221;:{&#8220;title&#8221;:&#8221;Handout&#8221;,&#8221;class&#8221;:&#8221;media-element file-default&#8221;,&#8221;data-delta&#8221;:&#8221;1&#8243;}}]]
&#8220;For many young Trump supporters, liberal intolerance has made meeting and dating nearly impossible. Support for the President has become a dealbreaker instead of an icebreaker. That&#8217;s why we created a new platform for Trump supporters to meet people without being afraid of talking politics.&#8221; said Emily Moreno, CEO of DonaldDaters&#8203;.
And yes, DonaldDaters has thought ahead about the liberal trolls. &#8220;If you receive unwanted chats, you can block user(s) in the chat screen,&#8221; says the app. &#8220;If you see content in the newsfeed that are inappropriate you can report it.&#8221; If someone is blocked twice, they are suspended and have to go through an appeal process.
The free app is similar to other dating apps like Tinder and OKCupid. Users receive a new set of daily matches everyday based on their preferences, and they can also browse singles in the daily matches and chat for free when the match is mutual. If they like a photo, it sends a push notification to the poster. Premium members can see who liked their photo and also send direct chats.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and &#8220;Make America Date Again!&#8221;

‘Make America Date Again’: Pro-Trump Dating App Launches

Donald Trump

Millennials like attention &#8212; in fact, we love it. 
This has resulted in a decline in healthy social interaction, which has been replaced by a pervasive sense of narcissism. 
A recent and hilarious/sad example of this millennial obsession with attention is a viral group &#8220;date&#8221; stunt pulled by a self-appointed bachelorette who duped dozens of men to meet her in New York City&#8217;s Union Square. The stunt was supposed to make a statement about the superficiality of the online dating scene, and did to some degree, but it also successfully earned the bachelorette a whole lot of clicks.
The bachelorette employed over 50 full-time workers from around the world to pretend to be her, flirt with the men, and invite them to a fake EDM event where they were told to meet her by the stage. 
When she finally made her way to the stage, she announced: &#8220;I have everyone here today to be on a date with me.&#8221; She then initiated her own dating game show, asking, &#8220;Do you have what it takes to be on a date with me?&#8221; 
What happened next was a real-world imitation of swiping left and swiping right. She began eliminating the men, starting with the &#8220;half of you people&#8221; that she claimed are in relationships, and then moved on to men under 5&#8217;10&#8221;, men with beer bellies, long beards, baldness, khakis, any man who &#8220;is any less than six inches,&#8221; or anyone named Jimmy.
The men who stayed had to compete for the right to date her with pushup competitions, races, and interviews. They even lined up where she would literally &#8220;swipe&#8221; left or right on them.
Natasha called her stunt the &#8220;Tinder Trap&#8221; and made a video explaining that she did it because she wanted men in real life to act &#8220;just like we&#8217;ve been treating each other on Tinder.&#8221;
But one man ruined the moment. He snatched the microphone while she was interviewing another man and said: &#8220;Excuse me, this sh** you did right here, pulled a stunt on all these men who had stuff to do. It&#8217;s f***ed up. You know it&#8217;s f***ed up!&#8221;
While I&#8217;d be lying if I said I didn&#8217;t laugh hysterically at the trick, the humiliated bachelor has a point &#8212; it is messed up &#8212; but it&#8217;s also a sign of the larger narcissistic millennial culture. 
&#8220;Just because someone doesn&#8217;t check off every box on what we find attractive doesn&#8217;t mean they aren&#8217;t. It&#8217;s absurd, isn&#8217;t it, to judge people by such petty things as if they like to wear khakis?&#8221; said the bachelorette, revealing what was supposed to be the point of the &#8220;group date.&#8221; 
But perhaps the angry bachelor is the one who really hit on the true problem.
Natasha, who is seen in her video getting her hair and makeup professionally done and being escorted from a limousine with bodyguards for her &#8220;date&#8221; to dupe guys, is now playing the victim claiming that she has been receiving negativity, though she says the guys &#8220;are still in my inbox trying to date me.&#8221;
Her video does send one good message, however: our dating culture is flawed. This isn&#8217;t because we have specific preferences, but because the convenience of dating apps has fed into the hookup culture that encourages shortcuts in initiating relationships instead of putting in much effort. Meaningful and viable relationships aren&#8217;t simple and they definitely don&#8217;t just &#8220;fire up&#8221; as is suggested by Tinder. If anything, Natasha&#8217;s video brought this inconsistency to light and showed the real instability and superficiality of many swipe-right relationships.
This doesn&#8217;t mean dating apps are completely harmful; in fact, 80% of Tinder users say <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-tinder-users-seek-meaningful-relationships-2016-9">they&#8217;re using it for a meaningful relationships</a> and &#8220;dating sites and apps account for about a sixth of the first meetings that lead to marriage,&#8221; <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/08/18/how-the-internet-has-changed-dating">according to the Economist</a>. Yet, Natasha&#8217;s &#8220;social experiment&#8221; still pranked men that may have been looking for something meaningful, but instead got a push-up competition against other fooled jerks.
While some men seemed to have a good time on the bizarre &#8220;date,&#8221; Natasha&#8217;s stunt did nothing but feed into the larger problem of self-obsession and give her the publicity and clicks she actually wanted. Her video won&#8217;t rid people of their various standards, some reasonable and some superficial, but it might help create an additional &#8220;swipe left&#8221; quality for some sincerely searching for meaningful relationships: &#8220;attention-seeker.&#8221;

<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rz_2VYeHAx4" width="560"></iframe></div>

DILLON: What The NYC Mass Tinder Date Scam Says About Millennials

A man who reportedly used dating apps to cajole as many as seven different women to meet him, then later allegedly killed each one, reportedly offered this excuse to police: &#8220;My body did this, not my mind. I didn&#8217;t want to do this. My body made me do this.&#8221;
The 27-year-old man from New Haven, Connecticut, allegedly strangled 29-year-old Samantha Stewart, a nurse, at her Queens home on July 17. The man was arrested in Los Angeles after police tracked him down and found him with a woman who was tied up, allegedly against her will.
Police said the man confessed to murdering Stewart and bragged about murdering six other women. The alleged murders occurred in Connecticut, the Bronx and Suffolk County, Nassau County, and one more in Queens.
According to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-danuel-drayton-queens-murder-samantha-stewart-20180727-story.html">The Daily News,</a> police said the man used dating apps like Tinder to find his victims. NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea told reporters, &#8220;It is believed by us that this individual uses dating websites to meet women, and then victimizes these women.&#8221;
Police stated that between 2011 and February 2018, the man was arrested five times in Connecticut , and one of the arrests came on a second-degree strangulation charge. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6007273/Man-strangled-nurse-responsible-SEVEN-murders-coast-coast.html">The Daily Mail</a> reported, &#8220;He was also arrested on June 30 in Nassau County, New York for allegedly choking his ex-girlfriend during an argument, but was released without bail on July 5. &#8216;It would have been impossible for the judge at that time to foresee the allegations that are presently unfolding,&#8217; a spokesperson for the Nassau court told ABC 7.&#8221;
Kenneth Stewart, the father of victim Samantha Stewart, stated, &#8220;This monster gets out and has the nerve to fly to L.A. to commit another crime, to destroy another family.&#8221; He found his daughter&#8217;s body bloody and wrapped in a sheet with her teeth knocked out in the bedroom of her home. He told <a href="http://abc7ny.com/29-year-old-woman-found-murdered-in-queens-bedroom/3781013/"> ABC 7, </a>&#8220;I turned her over trying to shake her and say &#8216;Samantha.&#8217; No response. I realized when I turned her over she was dead.&#8221;

Man Who Used Dating Apps To Lure And Allegedly Kill 7 Women: ‘My Body Did This, Not My Mind’

In case you haven&#8217;t heard, Facebook is getting into the online dating game. Though the social media giant seems poised to dominate the dating industry, its competitors don&#8217;t appear to be too worried about Facebook joining the field. Instead, they&#8217;re welcoming the embattled company into the industry with some good old fashioned backhanded compliments and trolling.
In a pair of quotes highlighted by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-dating-tinder-match-group-iac-response-2018-5">Business Insider</a>, executives at Tinder&#8217;s parent company, IAC, which owns the Match Group &#8212; which includes Tinder, OkCupid, Match.com and Plenty of Fish &#8212; had some fun with Facebook&#8217;s announcement.
&#8220;Come on in. The water&#8217;s warm,&#8221; said IAC CEO Joey Levin. &#8220;Their product could be great for US/Russia relationships.&#8221;
Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg also offered Facebook a backhanded welcome.
Though she said she was &#8220;surprised at the timing given the amount of personal and sensitive data that comes with this territory,&#8221; which Ginsberg says her company understands &#8220;better than anyone,&#8221; she said that it would be &#8220;invigorating&#8221; to have Facebook in the game. &#8220;Facebook&#8217;s entry will only be invigorating to all of us,&#8221; said Ginsberg.
Meanwhile, Bumble, a competitor to Match Group, said they were &#8220;thrilled&#8221; at Mark Zuckerberg&#8217;s announcement that he was going to help people get dates, a spokesman for the group saying they&#8217;ve already reached out to Facebook &#8220;to explore ways to collaborate&#8221; and find ways to &#8220;make the connecting space even more safe and empowering.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/29271/cruz-targets-facebook-alleged-political-bias-daily-wire">WATCH: Cruz Targets Facebook For Alleged Political Bias Against Conservatives. Zuckerberg: That&#8217;s A Fair Question.</a>
H/T <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/online/tinders-parent-company-throws-shade-at-new-facebook-dating-vertical-great-for-us-russia-relationships/">Mediaite</a>

Online Dating Companies Troll Facebook’s New Dating Product

Facebook

Russia

In repose to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/transgender-tinder-users-reported-and-banned-2015-6?r=UK&amp;IR=T">claims </a>that transgender Tinder users were being indiscriminately banned from the app, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/transgender-tinder-users-reported-and-banned-2015-6?r=UK&amp;IR=T">reported</a> by Business Insider UK last June, the company monopolizing the modern hook-up lifestyle has vowed to create a more trans-friendly Tinder environment.
You know what that means: A whole mess of new nonsensical &#8220;gender identities&#8221; to choose from. Yay!
For those unfamiliar with Tinder, the so-called &#8220;dating&#8221; app is notoriously known as an online hotspot for hook-ups. The sexes meet potential partners via their Smartphone, &#8220;swiping right&#8221; to show interest for the presented Tinder user, or &#8220;swiping left&#8221; if they have no desire to jump the bones of the person staring back at them through their screen.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a transgender community on Tinder and we haven&#8217;t done enough to give them a good experience,&#8221; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/tinder-promises-to-become-more-transgender-friendly/">said </a>Tinder CEO Sean Rad.
&#8220;It&#8217;s harder for them to get what they are looking for. We have to modify our experience to address that,&#8221; he added.
Currently, &#8220;Tinder has an estimated 50 million users but mainly caters for binary users who state they are &#8216;male&#8217; or &#8216;female&#8217; and are either interested in &#8216;men&#8217;, &#8216;women&#8217; or &#8216;both,&#8217;&#8221; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/tinder-promises-to-become-more-transgender-friendly/">notes </a>The Telegraph UK. &#8220;But in the next month or two, the app will reportedly add gender options and more dating preferences.&#8221;
Rad, giving himself a pat on the back for his moral superiority, declared that the changes his company has vowed to make are &#8220;not only good for the Tinder community, but it&#8217;s the right thing to do for the world.&#8221;
Somebody get this guy a Nobel Peace Prize.
As one might suspect, Tinder is wildly successful. Of course, it helps that more and more men and women alike are looking to sleep around, forging that antiquated radical notion of waiting until marriage to have sex.
Just last month, Bloomberg <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-03/match-jumps-after-first-quarter-revenue-beats-on-tinder-growth">reported</a> that Tinder &#8220;surpassed 1 million paid members in the quarter.&#8221; Its parent company, Match Group Inc &#8220;reported sales of $285.3 million,&#8221; surpassing even the highest of estimates.

Tinder Wants To Be Friendlier To Men Who Think They’re Women

Gender

Transgender

If you thought female feminists were <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/2164/top-ten-batsht-crazy-feminist-fails-2015-amanda-prestigiacomo">hard to stomach</a>, wait untill you get a load of the latest trend: male feminists. 
Apparently, men who identify as &#8220;feminists&#8221; have flocked Tinder&#8212;a well-know hook-up site&#8212;to, well, do just that. A Tumblr account called &#8220;Male Feminists of Tinder&#8221; has captured all the incredibly annoying men who are either desperate for some female affection or just plain old sorry excuses for the (trigger warning) male gender &#8211; although they are most likely a combination of both. 
Let&#8217;s meet these fine bachelors, shall we?
Are you a lonely feminist who enjoys &#8220;going dutch&#8221; on dates to &#8220;stick it&#8221; to &#8220;the patriarchy?&#8221; Look no further than Sean. He&#8217;s single, 29 years old, an active Tinder user, and only pays &#8220;for himself on the first date.&#8221;

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<div data-did="ed83a7bdf7bef7777ac48ce53222b62c942ea217" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/lpWq7wJp-GxeoPLso-bePA/136539403896"><a href="http://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/136539403896/if-youre-offended-by-my-feminism-i-understand">https://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/136539403896/if-youre-offended-by-my-feminism-i-understand</a></div>
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Up next is the ambiguous &#8220;feminist artist&#8221; (whatever the heck that is) from Brooklyn who is &#8220;looking for the you-know-what in the you-know-where.&#8221; Subtle.
Oh, and besides the whole mandated putting-out thing, you are also prohibited from &#8220;jewelry, shopping, clothing, meat, material things, sports, clubs, drinking for fun, and sarcasm.&#8221; This fun guy&#8217;s inbox must be FLOODED with requests.
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<div data-did="719b6e854f54e142d78804ab96830cb9a2717342" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/lpWq7wJp-GxeoPLso-bePA/135868088091"><a href="http://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/135868088091/please-dont-waste-his-time-with-your-stupid">https://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/135868088091/please-dont-waste-his-time-with-your-stupid</a></div>
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Then there is Will. This avid yogi is 30-years-old and a &#8220;Feminist in the streets&#8221; and a &#8220;misogynist in the bed.&#8221; #ItsOkayNoOneReallyUnderstandsFeminismEither
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<div data-did="5cae6b8d133752cf07ff86aceece48df0c3eb540" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/lpWq7wJp-GxeoPLso-bePA/135820977831"><a href="http://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/135820977831/theres-something-for-everyone-here-plus-you-get">https://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/135820977831/theres-something-for-everyone-here-plus-you-get</a></div>
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Cute 24-year-old Josh gives off a simple yet ambitious vibe with his &#8220;Come dismantle the patriarchy with me&#8221; comment.
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<div data-did="8754be79227b9b535c0afc6390cb34663985fc76" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/lpWq7wJp-GxeoPLso-bePA/134446187591"><a href="http://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/134446187591/i-mean-there-are-worst-first-dates">https://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/134446187591/i-mean-there-are-worst-first-dates</a></div>
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Last but not least, meet Jeff, possibly the most pathetic man in all the land. Jeff wants to &#8220;lie on your bed and ask you difficult questions.&#8221; It&#8217;s a mystery why this guy had to turn to Tinder to find a girl. 
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<div data-did="5dd15e8d1bb6194424e64ae618831e2ee30ddadc" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/lpWq7wJp-GxeoPLso-bePA/134445793696"><a href="http://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/134445793696/difficultquestions">https://malefeministsoftinder.tumblr.com/post/134445793696/difficultquestions</a></div>
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For more on this pathetic trend, check out &#8220;The Ben Shapiro Show&#8221; Thursday podcast <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/2439/ep-51-conservatives-question-obamatears-lying-left-ben-shapiro">here</a> where Shapiro gives his epic take.
<a href="http://nymag.com/following/2015/12/male-feminists-of-tinder-is-exactly-that.html">H/T</a> New York Mag

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