Have you ever wondered how the online dating industry evolved and why it looks the way it does today? If so, you probably thought it only emerged around the turn of the millennium. But you'd be completely wrong.
Let's look at the stages of development of the online dating industry around the world. Let's start from afar.

From very far away...

• 1695 — The first newspaper ads appear in Great Britain, in which single men tell their stories and try to find their perfect partner.

• 1727— for the first time in history, a woman was able to place an ad in the “Lonely Hearts” column of the newspaper.
• 1800s— Aristocrats of all stripes participate in the search for a soul mate through newspapers. At the same time, the first fraudsters, who exploited advertisers' personal data for their own purposes, also appear in this area.
• 1900s— The trend of finding a couple in newspapers spreads to the United States, especially among single farmers, who are deprived of the opportunity to meet a large number of potential partners offline.
• 1920s— Former World War I soldiers actively search for old army comrades and place wanted ads in local newspapers.

At this point, you're probably thinking that this has nothing to do with online dating.

But you're wrong. The same principle of "Lonely Hearts" columns is used in many modern dating apps. Only now, instead of newspapers, we have apps for smartphones.

The true story of online dating begins a little later:
• 1959 — Stanford students Jim Harvey and Phil Fialer develop the "Happy Family Planning Services" project. They use a punch-card questionnaire and an IBM 650 computer. Forty-nine men and 49 women fill out the questionnaire, and the computer then tries to match them with the best matches.

• 1965— Harvard students Jeff Tarr and Vaughan Morrill further developed Harvey and Fialer's idea. They also used the questionnaire and the more powerful IBM 1401 system. The main idea was to match students based on their similarities. Their experiment proved highly successful; within a few years, the technology was being used by several million people.
• 1995— The first modern dating website in history, Match.com, is launched.
• 2000— Dr. Neil Clark Warren founds eHarmony, an online dating service focused on finding couples who are best suited to each other and likely to have a long and strong relationship.
• 2012— Tinder, one of the most successful dating apps, was launched. It was based on the swipe principle and found a match based on geolocation. From this moment on, the online dating industry gained maximum momentum.

In the years that followed, the online dating industry experienced few global changes. But in 2019 and 2020, when the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and offline dating became very difficult, a new "normal" began, in which all communication takes place online. And this has become one of the main reasons for the active change and innovation in dating apps. But what are these changes, and are they really something completely new?

Instead of monotonous photos and long descriptions, creative videos are being introduced.
Tinder, one of the most popular dating apps in the world, was one of the first to embark on the path of active change. Many will remember that in 2020, Tinder introduced a video chat feature, which made it easier for users to get to know each other and communicate within the app. Following Tinder, Bumble and Match also introduced a similar feature.

On June 22, 2021, Tinder announced the launch of several new features. The most important of these was the ability to add videos to profiles instead of photos. This innovation allows users to better describe themselves, showcase their creativity, and present themselves vividly.

The dating service Hinge has introduced a similar feature. You can also post videos from popular social networks—Instagram or Facebook—to your profile. Or simply choose from your mobile phone's gallery and download them directly. Whichever is more convenient for you.

By the way, interest in video formats in dating apps arose long before the coronavirus and the quarantine. Active users will certainly remember that Tinder introduced the feature for adding short looped videos back in 2018. At that time, however, the new feature wasn't very popular. The developers tried to somehow motivate users to use loops by giving them 10% more approval swipes. At that time, the developers were inspired by a similar feature on Instagram, which was implemented less well on Tinder. It wasn't possible to shoot a video for loops directly in the app. You had to perform a lot of unnecessary actions, which not everyone liked.

But with the video chat feature, the situation was completely different. Only this time, the developers of Tinder and other dating apps were inspired not by Instagram, but by Omegle. This was generally the right decision.

How Omegle Video Chat and Its Analogues Have Changed the Online Dating Industry More Than 10 Years After Launch
The Omegle online chat was launched in the spring of 2009, long before Tinder and many of its analogues. Initially, however, communication was only possible via text chat; video communication only appeared six months after launch. But that's not so important. The main thing is that Omegle has shown that internet users enjoy communicating via video communication, which is convenient for them and simply opens up many opportunities to expand their circle of acquaintances.

Subsequently, many alternatives to Omegle emerged : the simple but functional video chat Chathub; the chat with streams Bazoocam; the site with thematic chat rooms and searches by interests Chatrandom; the platform with gender and geographical filters OmeTV; the chat CooMeet, which connects only men with women, and many others.

Why are dating apps introducing video calling features and embedding videos in their profiles right now?
The fact is, at the time Omegle and its analogues were released, relatively fast internet was exclusively wired. For many, it was completely inaccessible. And there was no talk of fast mobile internet and Wi-Fi everywhere.

3G networks have only been available in Europe since 2003, and only in very limited numbers. In most less developed countries, they didn't even begin in 2015. This means that until then, the overwhelming majority of people simply didn't have the option of communicating via video on a smartphone. Now that we live in the age of 4G and 5G, this is essential. But in the past, even sending a message on ICQ was problematic.

Nowadays, high-speed networks exist even far outside of cities. So it's only a matter of time before the list of dating apps with video functionality expands.

New to dating apps with a focus on video.
The introduction of video calling in popular apps is a new, yet entirely expected, phenomenon. However, in today's world, many users prefer not new features, but entirely new apps. And there are quite a few of them lately.

1. The Sauce— an app like TOP XXX Webcams VibraGame where users upload short videos instead of photos. Similar to Tinder after its update. However, while Tinder still allows users to upload regular photos, The Sauce only allows videos.
2. Jungle— one of the newcomers to the online dating market with several interesting features. First, it also has a video chat function that allows you to chat with people you're interested in. Second, Jungle is ideal for arranging double or even triple dates.
3. HILY— an innovative dating app whose key feature is machine learning, which allows HILY to find users who are the best match for you. It also offers a video chat feature. The app also supports video streaming, which will delight many users.
4. Qemistry— an app that the developers themselves call TikTok for dating. The focus here is on video content, with each user's video serving as their showcase. One month after its launch, the Qemistry app already has more than 10,000 active users.
5. Thursday— one of the new products of 2021. The app is only available on Thursdays; on other days, it's impossible to find a potential match or chat with other users. Instead of swipes and photos, it uses videos—short presentations in which users talk about themselves, their interests, and hobbies. Thursday is rapidly gaining popularity, but so far the app is only available to residents of New York and London. Of course, Thursday will soon expand to other cities and countries.

These aren't just smartphone apps that rely on videos. There's no doubt we'll see many more new dating platforms in the coming months and years.

What will happen next?
The emphasis on video calls in dating apps will likely continue to gain traction. Older formats like swipes aren't as effective as originally thought. People want to get to know each other better before a real date. And for that, a few photos on your account and a short description in your profile aren't enough.

With the rapid development of internet technology, video chat will soon be available even in the simplest and most popular dating apps. Online video chats like Omegle aren't standing still, delighting users with ever-increasing new features. There are likely many more exciting things ahead!