OkCupid Faces Backlash After Pushing Users to Use Their Real Names

OkCupid has insisted on requiring real names instead of handles from their users, and their online reviews have suffered as a result. The OkCupid app, both Android and iOS versions, have been on the receiving end of negative reviews as of late.

The online dating service has announced the change less than two weeks ago, in a humorous dig at users that pick names like "DaddyzPrincess29" or "BigDaddyFlash916."

Users are not laughing along, though, as they have been busy slamming the OkCupid app with one-star reviews on both the Google Play and Apple App stores, according to Tech Crunch.

Just two weeks before the year ended, the reviews for the month of December already took a nosedive, with over half of them giving the OkCupid App the lowest score possible. 56.3 percent of reviews for the last month of 2017 were one-star reviews.

It was not a huge leap from the November reviews, with 30 percent of them giving the app a one out of five for that month.

Some of the reviews took the time to point out to OkCupid that their new policy could compromise the security and privacy of their users, especially now that the new OkCupid app is also doing automated user matchings, as Engadget noted.

Another point of OkCupid users is that the usernames were one of the few ways the platform is different from Tinder, which uses Facebook logins and real names. Both services are owned by Match.com.

For their part, OkCupid is now explaining that they are not requiring people to use their real names. The platform is now saying that users can use a nickname, or even initials, as they announced via Twitter on Dec. 23.

"We love our members. You do not need to use your government name or even your full first name. Use the name, nickname, or initials you'd like your date to call you on OkCupid," the dating service explained on social media.