Modern online dating services strive to provide their users with comfortable and convenient opportunities for dating and communication on the Web. They are constantly expanding their functionality, introducing new technologies, and gradually turning ordinary dating services into real multimedia combines.
Nonetheless, let’s think about the changes in this niche that have become the most significant in recent years
In our subjective opinion, the most important innovations were the implementation of video chats and artificial intelligence. It was these updates that brought great changes to the principles of online dating in the modern world.
Let’s talk about this in more detail!
Video communication as a new online dating format
Traditional dating sites and apps are similar to each other; from design to matching algorithms. Most of them had one serious disadvantage for a very long time; the inability to get acquainted and communicate via video. Users could not form an objective opinion about the interlocutors because no information or text on the profile would enable them to know the person properly.
Certainly, there were dating services with video chats in the past, but they were quite a few and not very popular. Most likely, you have not heard of such dating sites as SparkStarter, Charm, or Hitch.me. Video chats appeared in them in 2012-2013.
The situation in this regard has begun to change only recently. In 2017, the video calling feature appeared in Coffee Meets Bagel, in 2018 in Zoosk, and in 2019 in eHarmony.
However, the real peak of the popularity of video chats in dating apps came in 2020, when the world was engulfed by the Covid-19 pandemic and people were experiencing a serious lack of communication. It was at this time that video chats were implemented into the most popular dating services such as Tinder, Badoo, Hinge, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, eHarmony, and others.
Readers who have been actively using the Internet for a long time may object that the opportunity to get acquainted and communicate via video appeared much earlier. Also, they will be absolutely right! Indeed, in 2009, one of the world’s first random video chats known as Omegle, appeared. The site was very popular and it often had more than two million daily users, but it was shut down in November 2023.
Regarding the popularity of video chats, it’s no surprise that many alternatives to Omegle emerged. Below are some of the most successful ones:
- Camsurf: This is an analogue of Omegle with a gender filter, search for interlocutors by interests and language selection. Also, it has useful paid features, but they are not so necessary for comfortable communication.
- OmegleTV: This is a video chat with a unique gender filter that is flawless. It is an ideal option for men who want to get acquainted with ladies only. Also, Omegle TV has filters by country and age, and those who wish to communicate with foreigners can use the built-in translator.
- Minichat: This is a simple and fast video chat with gender and geographic filters. Lovers of minimalism and simplicity will love it.
- Chatruletka: This is an analogue of Omegle with the search for interlocutors by country and gender. There are no special functional excesses here, however many do not need them.
- ChatRandom — This is a classic alternative to Omegle and it has one important feature; themed chat rooms in which many participants can communicate at once.
Today, as you can easily see, the choice of random video chats is simply huge. They are still very popular; there are tens of thousands of users online at almost any time. Therefore, you will not feel the lack of communication and interlocutors.
Artificial intelligence in dating apps
Nowadays, the topic of artificial intelligence is on everyone’s lips. Literally, every month, there are fewer areas where AI is not used. Online dating is no exception because it uses the power of AI to improve its service.
There are a lot of options for using artificial intelligence in modern dating:
- Profile matching: Machine learning algorithms are used to analyze user profile data and suggest more suitable matchmaking options. Usually, the main functionality of most modern dating sites and applications is built on this basis.
- Deep analysis of the user’s personality: Artificial intelligence can consider what a person says about themselves in a profile and also analyze the characteristics of their behavior, interests, etc. Thus, dating applications form a more detailed analysis of a person’s personality, which makes it even more accurate to select a match for them.
- Fake profile detection: Fake news is a serious problem in today’s web dating. To deal with them manually, involving moderators is a waste of time. Even the largest staff of employees is not able to effectively deal with fakes, bots, advertising accounts, etc. Nevertheless, AI does it quickly, efficiently, and most importantly, cheaper.
- Communication recommendations: AI algorithms can analyze the communication between users and give advice on what topics for communication may be more interesting and promising for each individual.
- Efficient and fast search for violators of community rules: AI does a great job of finding people who violate the rules of the site, and immediately takes appropriate action — issues a warning, temporarily or permanently blocks the account.
It is clear that in the future, the possibilities of using artificial intelligence in the field of online dating will only expand. Currently, we are aware that AI plays a very important role in this niche, making dating more promising, comfortable, and safe.
Let’s summarize
If you look at the history of the development of dating apps from 2010 to 2020, there was no really active expansion of the functionality. Yes, a lot of convenient dating apps have appeared, but globally, they have not changed the principles of online dating.
Significant changes began after 2020, such as the implementation of video chats, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and so on. Interest in online dating among users has also grown significantly over the past few years and will probably increase in the future.
