Getting their “VIBee” on – Michael Robertson

http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/bumble-introduces-vibee-a-verification-feature-independent-of-your-social-status/

Just when we thought dating apps couldn’t get any better! Bumble, a familiar dating app, is offering a new feature called VIBee. This feature allows users to be identified on their profile as a VIBee users, giving them a whole new database of users to swipe away at. In order to get this feature, a request has to be sent from your account to Bumble, users have to have been active on the Bumble platform in order to get access to this new feature. The application uses an algorithm to determine if a user is active enough on the application to be accepted as an exclusive VIBee. Once a VIBee member users have an exclusive database that they are able to browse through. This feature advertises  the chances of a real connection are much higher as the “time wasters” have been removed from the database that a VIBee user would swipe through.

 

What do you guy’s think of this new “exclusive” feature offered by Bumble, and could this new VIBee tag lead to users being judged for such active participation on these dating apps?

Rochelle S – Spotify is your Best Friend?

I’m a massive Spotify fan and have been recently taking advantage of the new Discover Weekly feature. Every Monday, Spotify generates a personalized playlist using an algorithm that combines your own musical tastes with new recommendations. According to the press release published by Spotify on July 20, Discover Weekly,” Is like having your best friend make you a personalised mixtape every single week.” What do you think about this claim?

The act of creating a custom mixtape for a friend has been around for ages, but now it no longer requires two human beings. Instead this intimate interaction relies on Spotify’s new algorithm. What implications does Discover Weekly and other playlist-generating apps have on the way we listen to and share content?