As the ongoing George Floyd and Black Lives Matter controversies rage, they touch on countless elements of society from government to sports, law enforcement to social media. Now, a dating app is confronting those hot button issues with a new profile badge and other detailed changes.
The social media stalwart OkCupid rolled out a #BlackLivesMatter profile badge in more than a dozen countries. The app’s users can add the BLM badge to their platform presence by answering “Yes” to the presented question: “Do you want to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement by adding a badge to your profile?”
The Black Lives Matter protest led the social media app OKCupid to make several changes to its ... [+]
The minds behind OkCupid said in their official statement that the online dating service is “committed to supporting the (Black Lives Matter) movement and helping our users connect over their shared support as well.” In addition to the badge option, the service added a new series of questions in their matching process related to racial equality and social justice to start conversations between prospective match partners with similar interests. Those queries are:
• Do you protest to fight inequality?
• How will you address racial inequality?
• Is it important that your date fights for racial justice?
The platform’s statistics report more than 100,000 answers came in from various users on the new discussion points. The accumulated answers indicated the majority of OkCupid respondents believe it is not acceptable to support racial equality silently. In the U.S., 70% of respondents on the platforms are actively protesting to fight racial injustice.
The social media app OKCupid now offers the option of placing a #BlackLivesMatter badge on any ... [+]
Other numbers on how the social media users are acting to oppose perceived injustice include:
• 62% donate their time or money, educating themselves and protesting.
• 23% are educating themselves or teaching others.
• 9% are donating their money or time.
• 6% are protesting.
As for OkCupid, the social media firm is donating $1 million in advertising space on platform to Black American civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, the ACLU, Black Girls CODE and Fair Fight Action.
The #BlackLivesMatter badge follows on the heels of previous progressive efforts from OkCupid. The #IStandWithPP badge supports Planned Parenthood, while #RightToLove shows approval for the ACLU.
