If you thought the single life was hard before, the pandemic has completely changed the dating landscape. Hesam Hosseini, CEO of Match told Cheddar Friday that despite being stuck at home, people are still looking to mingle.
"Singles, probably more than anyone, are feeling isolated as they stay at home. I think the dating industry, and Match, have a pretty important role to play as apps or tools that can connect you to people you don't know. We can play a role in making singles feel less isolated," Hosseini said.
The app also has a resource page called Dating While Distancing where users can share their concerns with dating experts. Hosseini said there have been a lot of questions about different ways people can keep up with a new relationship while social distancing and questions from users flying solo who still want to connect.
"The advice we give is, first and foremost, follow the guidelines in your local city and keep it virtual," he said. "Now is not the time to be dating someone new in person, but try to have fun with it."
Speaking of keeping it virtual, many couples have been trying 'video dates' to connect with each other, although the CEO said couples started trying that method even before the coronavirus outbreak began.
"Video has been around within dating, but adoption has been pretty low. We ran a survey and during COVID-19 we found that almost 70 percent of singles are now interested in trying video, which is what led us to launch Vibe Check on Match," he said.
Vibe Check is an in-app video calling service that allows singles to safely video chat with each other before deciding whether to exchange phone numbers. Hosseini thinks video dating will last after the pandemic is over.
"The way we've thought about video as the name implies, Vibe Check, post-COVID-19 and post the lockdown, it's not meant to replace in-person dates. It's meant to be a shorter way to know if you have a spark with someone'' he said.
The CEO said they've found more people on Match are having deeper conversations with each other after measuring the frequency of the back-and-forth between two people. He is also seeing changes within the early stages of dating.
"When you're on video I think it could lead to more meaningful conversations and actually get a deeper connection with someone," he said. "We are seeing even just the early stages of dating changing and maybe for the better that we are moving away from 'hook-up culture' and more towards building real relationships."
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
