The popular dating app is said to be planning new features as it records high usage during the pandemic.
Although social distancing means people can’t meet up and go on dates in the conventional fashion, that hasn’t stopped users of the famous dating app hooking up in the virtual world.
Tinder has an estimated 57 million users worldwide and has seen the number of swipes made each day at ‘an all-time high’. This dating app is not just recording high user numbers, either. Match group that covers Plenty of Fish, Match.com, Hinge, and OkCupid have also seen a surge in use.
Tinder’s most notable rise comes from women under the age of 30. There was an increase of 37% of swipes made by this group compared to the final week of February.
Adapting in the face of the pandemic
The dating world looks a little different in the current situation, and Tinder has jumped on-board to adapt to the new normal. In a letter to shareholders, the company has highlighted its plans to introduce its own one-to-one video function late summer.
Match Group said, “Social distancing has required adaptations and pivots and has impacted our business because the manner in which singles engage with our products and start relationships has quickly evolved.
“We know that singles are adjusting their behaviours, and many are shifting to having dates virtually via phone or video.”
Video chatting has not surprisingly boomed while people work from home and socialise remotely. Zoom’s daily use was recently reported by market research firm SensorTower to have risen from 10 million a day in December to 300 million a day in April.
Dating after the pandemic
It is not clear how dating will be affected after the lockdown is relaxed. However, Hinge Chief Executive Justin McLeod thinks that people will still use its new virtual video app. Talking to the BBC, he said: “I really do think people will continue to do that after social distancing ends.” He also claimed that a report suggested that 90% of video date attendees said they would use it again.
New TV series keeping the spark alive
Dating and finding love is still a significant part of people’s lives. Plus, there have been a few different TV series to help keep people positive about the dating landscape.
Before the lockdown, we saw Netflix introduce Love is Blind. This became one of the UK’s most addictive series, in which an individual made connections and committed to marriage without even seeing the other person first!
In April, we also saw Too Hot To Handle offer a cash prize under the proviso that there was no sexual contact made by the potential couples in the villa.
Despite the restrictions, dating app Happn surveyed users who said, ‘they were more than willing to adapt to the current circumstances.’ Plus, they found two out of three online daters said they are “still searching for love despite the current situation”.
So, if you’re still looking for love during the pandemic, there’s hope yet!
