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February 14 is Valentine’s Day, a holiday no greeting card company, flower shop or candy maker will soon let you forget. The day before doesn’t get as much attention but it’s also a cause for celebration: Black Love Day. Created to exemplify love, forgiveness and acceptance in the Black community, the holiday is getting lots of buzz on BLK, the world’s largest dating app for Black singles, which has tripled in membership since 2020 when Jonathan Kirkland took over as head of marketing and brand. “BLK is a resource for the community since there's no other app that serves the Black community at scale,” he says.
As the man leading the charge for the fast-growing network, Kirkland is somewhat of an expert in all things dating, and someone you especially want to hear from on Black Love Day and Valentine’s Day eve. Here, he gives us his take on the state of Black love, what trends he’s seeing in online dating and how to make your profile truly stand out from the rest. This interview has been condensed for clarity.
What is the state of Black Love?
I'd say Black love is growing. It's always prevailed through time. It's resilient. You see, when I think about Black love, it's more than just romance. It's really about the community. Coming together as a community, that's a form of love. Coming together romantically, that's another form of love. When we've had these hard times [like we’ve seen in the past year], you see that people come together, and people relate, and people talk and people are more on that emotional level. That’s just another caveat of Black love. It looks like many, many things.
What changes have you seen as far as relationships go?
From a love perspective, Black love is becoming more open, and freer, which just makes it more powerful. People in the Black community are writing their own dating stories—moving away from the traditional Black family model, getting married later or not getting married at all, and waiting longer to have children. The same thing goes for all types of relationships, like polyamory for example. People have the poly sticker on the app and it's not a taboo thing as it was before.
What are some of the positive changes you’ve implemented at BLK?
When I joined BLK, the only login option was, 'Are you a man? Woman? Are you looking for a man? Woman? Both?' I'm like, no. There's a whole spectrum of gender identity. We definitely, we have that in the app now. Everything doesn't need to be so segmented. It's more about, talking like you would talk to a friend creating that personal connection. [Editor's note: Users can select from more than 20 descriptors and choose all that apply].
What are some tips for someone who’s starting out in the world of online dating?
One of the most important things is your profile picture because people are swiping left and right. You have half a second to get somebody's attention. As superficial as that sounds, that's just the nature of the game. Make sure you take a good profile picture that shows your face.
Fill out your bio and let people know a little bit more about who you are. If you can find a little something catchy or just attention-grabbing, put that in there—especially upfront in the bio. Include as much information as possible and your intent, what you're looking for, so you don't waste each other's time.
What’s one of the worst things someone can do on a dating app?
Don't be a chronic left swiper. Even the ones that might be a little questionable from what you see or what you read, give them a chance. Hey, if it doesn't work, you can block them or just stop messaging them. Be open to exploration. You're at home, in your own space, and a little bit easier to give the B guy a chance in addition to the A guy.
What’s next for BLK?
We’ll be doing an entire brand revamp in July. We have some things planned for Black History Month that'll be launching on the 13th of this month, which is Black Love Day. In June, which is Caribbean Heritage Month, we're going to be releasing our largest sticker pack, which is all about people of Caribbean descent. We definitely want to make sure our users feel like they're seen.
