Who's online: Match is kind of like baby's first big dating site. The OG player has the most users of any dating site (yup, more than eharmony and Zoosk) totaling about 35 million users in 25. Sun City, Arizona. Population: 39,952 adults; 29,880 seniors. AARP livability score: 48. Technically, Sun City is not a city but a retirement community in Maricopa County (in the Phoenix metro area). But if you're looking to meet people who were old enough to stay up to watch the moon landing, then this is a good spot.
Confirming a date on Ohlala. (Photo: Courtesy Ohlala)
Ohlala calls itself “the dating app designed to empower female users”–but others call it an escort service. Once you sign up for Ohlala, male users create date requests and list their budget. Their requests are posted for 21 minutes. When a female user accepts the man’s request, a chat opens up and both parties can agree to the terms and go on a date. While it certainly sounds Sugar Daddy influenced, the bottom of the page reads, “Ohlala is not an escort service. Escorts are not welcome.” Still, it’s hard to ignore that it has been described as “Uber for escorts.”
While it may seem like a gateway towards becoming a sugar baby, it seems similar to what people’s outside views of apps like Tinder are. People who grow tired of making endless app conversation and engaging in idle chit-chat over cocktails can turn to 3nder or Ohlala to get down to business. On The Mindy Project, protagonist Mindy Lahiri tried an app called “Pork It,” where interested parties meet immediately for sex. It’s funny, but these more aggressive apps make it seem like a not-so-pleasant reality.
Pia Poppenreiter, the CEO of Ohlala. (Photo: Laura Jost)
Pia Poppenreiter, a Berlin-based entrepreneuer with a masters degree in ethics serves as Ohlala’s CEO. The Observer talked to Poppenreiter to find out why people confuse it for an escort service and how it’s better at making dates than regular apps.
“I think that people are really seeking convenience in certain offline encounters. Why you would originally use a dating app? To meet someone and have an offline encounter quickly. What we see is that conventional dating apps often fail to deliver that service to users,” Poppenreiter said. Ohlala delivers a date to your door–but for a price. Casual encounters can range from $150 to $350.
A woman’s view of Ohlala. (Photo: Courtesy Ohlala)
On first dates, there’s always the possibility of a power imbalance, but Poppenreiter believes it no longer exists when both parties are upfront about what they’re looking for. Ohlala labels itself a female empowerment app, but Poppenreiter doesn’t think it’s a feminist dating platform, like Bumble.
“I am more an equalist than feminist, but I believe in strong women who know what they want. I am one, myself,” she explained. Unlike, say, Match.com, Ohlala is not pretending to be for those looking for serious relationships. Poppenreiter believes Ohlala’s users are looking for “fun, for a certain period of time, where expectations are crystal clear.”
The amount daters are willing to spend on Ohlala varies, depending on the day of the week and the duration. Longer dates on the weekend tend to cost about $700 to $1,000. Still, Poppenreiter maintains that it’s not an escort service. “We are not promising any specific service that female users should perform. We are involved as to how they arrange their date–the rest is up to them,” she told us. For those who are tired of going on useless Tinder dates, Ohlala could offer the opportunity to make money while doing it…but whatever you do, don’t expect it to lead to a significant other.
When it comes to the most popular dating app out there, you may be surprised to see what's happening in your area. Because while there are some definite heavy hitters in the dating app world, there's actually a huge amount of variation in what's popular around the country.
In fact, technology company Quantcast looked at over 480,000 searches from January 6, 2017 - February 5, 2017 to see what apps people are searching for and where they're using them for Bustle. Different states seem to go for different apps, though, interestingly, there are some definitely clusters where certain dating apps are popular in a group of states. And it's not always the ones you think — in fact, a relative underdog called Maple Match is getting some real love, but more on that later.
It's just useful information to have. Partially just for curiosity's sake, but also because it'll show you where to meet singles in your state. Now, it has its limits (just because Grindr is the most popular searched for app in Maine and California doesn't mean it's going to work for you if you're a straight woman), but you can still get a good idea of where to find folks.
So here's what the map looks like, so you can see exactly what's going on in your state.
Dating App City Near Bethany Oregon
And here were the highlights of what they found:
PlentyOfFish, a free app, came out as the highest indexed dating app. That sort of surprised me, because it's not one my friends use as much as Tinder or Hinge, but it's obviously getting a lot of use in other circles.
There it is: Tinder, the OG of dating apps, actually came in as the second highest indexed dating app.
Dating App City Near Bethany Oregon
Although it may not have won the most states, there are a sprinkling of states where Grindr was the most searched. As you can see from the map, the West Coast and New England were big fans.
Bumble, the female-led dating app, did really well in certain New England states. It came in at number one in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maryland.
This was my favorite part. Washington and Oregon searched for Maple Match — a dating app to help you find Canadians — the most. Whether it's just because of their proximity to the border or because of the new presidency, it's hard to tell. But Canada is looking appealing.
Maybe it's because in big cities there are so many missed connections every day (and because we're all too lazy to travel more than three neighborhoods for a date), but Happn, which matches you with people you cross paths with, was the most popular search among New Yorkers.
Though Coffee Meets Bagel only got two percent of the searches around the country, it was the most searched for dating app in Hawaii and among men and those with a math science background. So if you've got a thing for science-y dudes with high incomes, you might want to give it a try.
You can take a look at the map to see exactly where your state fell. If you're having trouble meeting people, the most searched dating app in your area is a good place to start.