COURTLAND BROOKS - Jan 31 - The tagline for the grand Expo 2020 in Dubai is "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future." So you'd think with that focus it would now, surely, be possible for visitors to the Expo (which has been delayed to 2021) to access their favorite dating apps.
My family can certainly attest to the great changes and advances in U.A.E. My father was an air traffic controller in Dubai airport in 1970-1971. It was very sparse back then, and the transformation here has been quite mind-blowing, from my mother and father's accounts.
So let's see where things stand for the dating, and matrimony industry here in terms of accessibility.
Over the years I've posted news on OPW about the opening up of dating apps.
- In 2008 I posted some news about many dating and social networking sites being blocked, but ~1000 were being unblocked.
- In 2012 I noted that Match, POF, OKCupid, Badoo and leading Chinese dating sites were blocked, while Meetme and Tagged along with matrimony services were available.
- In 2015 I observed that Adopteunmec, ArabLounge, Badoo, Chemistry, CoffeeMeetsBagel, eHarmony, FarmersOnly, Flirt.com, Meetic, Nirvam.it, Oasis, Person.com, POF, SeniorPeopleMeet, Teamo.ru, Twoo, Zoosk were all blocked, while Skout and Tinder were available.
- In 2018 I noted POF, Match, Zoosk, OkCupid, Adam4Adam, OurTime, SPDate, Badoo and Ashley Madison were all blocked. Tinder, again, was open and available.
Dubai is opening up more now, and certainly with the 'Connecting Minds' tagline you would expect that visitors in 2020-2021 would be able to access their favorite dating services. How's it looking now?
Here I reference all the blocked sites mentioned above, and their current availability.
Previously blocked...
- Adopteunmec - available
- ArabLounge - available
- Badoo - available
- Chemistry - available
- CoffeeMeetsBagel - available
- eHarmony - available
- FarmersOnly - available
- Flirt.com - blocked
- Jiayuan - available
- Match - available
- Meetic - available
- Nirvam.it - available
- OKCupid - available
- Person.com - blocked
- POF - available
- Teamo.ru - available
- Zoosk - available
- Zhenai - available
Previously open...
- Jeevansathi - available
- Matrimony - available
- Meetme - available
- Shaadi - available
- Skout - available
- Tagged - available
- Tinder - available
So all but the risque/super-casual products are now open.
The U.A.E. is open for business.
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