Lauren O’Reilly, Director of advertising at OKCupid, states compared to their current 10 million active users, women searching for ladies just comprise 7 % of the. Nevertheless the very good news is the fact that because the site expanded their sex and orientation options, they will have seen a 7 % boost in feminine LGBTQ users, suggesting that lots of ladies might have thought stifled by the necessity to determine as one sex or one sex, which may additionally be a concern whenever looking to get queer females for a lesbian-specific software.
The number of identities of women-seeking-women not just helps it be difficult to subscribe to apps that only have three options (right, lesbian, bisexual) but may also explain why most of the queer females we talked to state they choose to satisfy times through buddies. “we develop every thing on trust, ” my buddy Valey, 27, who satisfies other ladies through buddies IRL, said. In the end, she states, it is simpler to ask all your buddies what that adorable woman’s situation is when each of them understand her and probably have for years. While that is clearly similar in right relationship, right people don’t need to find out exactly how right somebody is, concern yourself with navigating a relationship with somebody who’s not away, or potentially suffer from somebody using them being a test. Fulfilling somebody during your LGBTQ network that is social an amount of Date Insurance that lots of queer ladies can not manage to do without.
All this work partner-vetting is not to state all lesbians are serial monogamists. A 2013 study from Liverpool Hope University that studied 126 lesbian and right females using the typical chronilogical age of 27 unearthed that lesbians had and wished to have equally as much sex that is casual straight females. Nevertheless the homosexual ladies we talked to stated they must have some style of link with each other, even in the event their intention that is only is hook-up (which can be frequently is).
“Tinder changed the landscape of internet dating a little, ” my friend Nomi*, 30, whom identifies as queer, said. “we utilized years that are OKCupid and it also ended up being awesome. I experienced some legit luck here. Nevertheless now on Tinder every person appears to be afraid to be too earnest. Dating apps nowadays make me wish to go on to a cave within the hills and alter my title. “
Another buddy of mine, additionally called Lindsay, 34, whom additionally identifies as queer, echoed comparable sentiments, stating that she hates lesbian dating application Her because it’s way too much like Tinder in most the incorrect means. “I would like to in fact hear more info on the individual than one headline and 10 selfies. ” Her creator Robyn Exton did tell CNN Money back might that the rebranded app would have significantly more text boxes and photos making sure that people could see “the interesting elements of just just exactly just how she lives, ” but a current trip through the app suggests that the excess information continues to be pretty seldom filled away.
Therefore, associated with the a huge selection of dating apps which exist, exactly why isn’t here an improved, queer-women-friendly dating app yet? Are lesbians not internet dating since there is no good application, or perhaps is here no good software because lesbians dislike dating that is online? Lauren Kay, co-founder regarding the Dating Ring, claims it really is a little bit of a chicken or egg situation.
“Getting capital for a dating application is quite, very difficult. Everybody else and their sibling has unique app that is dating and investors frequently are not enthusiastic about this space, ” Kay states. “also in the event that you 
had a group working very difficult for per year on building the greatest LGBT software around, but even with all their work, they just had 1,000 users — then due compared to that tiny pool, users most likely would not get great matches, plus they’d hate the software rather than refer people they know, after which it could perish. “
Andrew Chen, an advisor/investor for technology startups including Dropbox, published on their weblog that as a whole, it is difficult for just about any dating application to attract interest from investors. He states that dating apps rely a great deal on folks who are nearby, and in case those folks aren’t there straight away, individuals will keep the application. “People are prepared to visit fulfill one another, but just a great deal, ” Chen writes. “And there must be the right mixture of male/female participants (or whatever permutation is practical). ” Having a 2011 report because of the Williams Institute showing that just 3.4 percent of Americans self-identity as lesbian or bisexual ladies, chances you had find the proper permutation in a offered area is slim certainly.
Chen adds that “until there is word-of-mouth, and sufficient people to produce an excellent experience, the market will draw. ” Therefore lesbians who possess mainly heterosexual buddies might maybe not find out about the software, and homosexual women that spend time along with other homosexual females most likely see individuals they already know just in the app (aka exes they would instead maybe maybe not see ever again).
Dinesh Moorjani, co-founder of Tinder and CEO of Hatch laboratories Inc. Where Tinder was made, claims that another reason lesbian dating apps might have neglected to prosper might be that investors do not note that 3.4 percent of America as a sizable sufficient market to tackle (never head that homosexual and bi men compensate a comparable percentage of this populace as homosexual and bi ladies, and Grindr has 10 times the users of Her). “Investors may feel the alternatives that are current adequate to deal with the marketplace need, given that they enable users to toggle between looking for either sex. It is possible the marketplace size has not been compelling, well documented, or communicated to potential investors by business owners, ” he claims, suggesting that investors think Tinder, Hinge, therefore the other straight-focused apps are serving lesbian females sufficiently.