London: Early during the coronavirus pandemic, Jennifer Sherlock went out with a few men she met through dating apps. The dates were ‘weird’, she said. It was not just because they were masked and had to maintain social distancing. One one occasion, a date remained masked while they were out for a stroll. However, soon after he invited her back to his place, a move Sherlock saw as reckless. “It was so off putting, and awkward,” she said. “So we wouldn’t be safe outside without mask(s), but we would be safe back at his place maskless?” she added.
Sherlock decided she needed a way to filter people. So she began arranging video chats before agreeing to meet anybody in person. Sherlock, 42, a PR consultant who lives in New Jersey, said it’s a practice she’ll continue post-pandemic.
Sherlock isn’t alone in changing the way she used dating apps during the pandemic. It has prompted the dating apps roll out new features.
Despite the social distancing of the past 18 months, the use of dating apps in general has surged. This is because people sought connections amid their isolation.
‘Tinder’ reported that 2020 was its busiest year yet; this year, its users have already set two records for usage between January and March. ‘Hinge’ tripled its revenue from 2019 to 2020, and the company expects it to double from that this year.
In response to changing demands, Tinder announced new tools last month. These will allow users to get to know people better online. People will now be able to add videos to their profile and can chat with others even before matching with them.
“Historically consumers were reluctant to connect via video because they didn’t see the need for it,” said Jess Carbino, an online dating expert and sociologist who has worked for Tinder and Bumble. Post-Covid, however, many people expect a higher degree of screening, she said. “Online dating apps like Tinder are leaning into that,” Jess added.
The dating apps say their research shows video chats are here to stay, even as life starts to return to normal in some parts of the world.
Almost half of ‘Tinder’ users had a video chat with a match during the pandemic with 40% of them intending to continue them post-pandemic. ‘Tinder’ says this is largely driven by Gen Z users in their late teens and early 20s, who now make up more than half of the app’s users.
Tinder, alongside other popular dating apps including ‘Hinge’, ‘OkCupid’ and ‘Bumble’ has in Britain and the US partnered with the government to add a badge to profiles indicating that users have been vaccinated. Dating app users are also increasingly looking for deeper connections rather than casual encounters, Carbino said.
That’s what happened to Maria del Mar, 29, an aerospace engineer. She wasn’t expecting to end up in a relationship after she matched with someone on ‘Tinder’ early in the pandemic last year.
She started chatting with her now-boyfriend through the dating app in April 2020 during a complete lockdown in Spain. Having moved back to her parent’s tiny town of León from Barcelona, Del Mar was bored when she joined the dating app. However, was surprised to find many things in common with her current partner.
After weeks of chatting, they finally met for a first date — a socially-distanced hike — after restrictions eased slightly in May 2020. Now the two have moved in together. “If it wasn’t for the app, probably our paths wouldn’t have crossed,” she said.
Fernando Rosales, 32, was a frequent user of ‘Grindr’, an app popular with gay men looking for more casual encounters, in pre-pandemic times. He turned to ‘Tinder’ for social connections when coronavirus restrictions prevented people from meeting others in London, where he lives.
“Grindr is like, ‘I like you, you like me, you’re within 100 metres of me, I’m going to come over’,” said Rosales, who works at the popular British coffee chain ‘Pret’. ‘Tinder’ is something more social,” he added. Sometimes he uses the dating app just to meet others to play online video games or video chat.
Sherlock also expects some of her pandemic dating behaviours to carry into the post-pandemic world. She recently asked two men she was texting for ‘Facetime’ chats before meeting in person, something she would not have done pre-pandemic. “It’s a crazy dating world out there, so saving time is necessary,” asserted Sherlock.