Love In The Time Of Coronavirus: How Dating Apps Have Adapted To Isolation
As I sit writing this, it’s a Friday night and I’m FaceTiming my best friend who is about to embark on her first virtual date. To say that she’s nervous would be an understatement. She’s scared sh*tless, as she pours herself another glass of Aldi’s specialty wine selection umming and ahhing over what dress to wear, or whether red lipstick is one step too far.
First dates have never been easy. They’re always riddled with awkward silences, interview-esque questions, the occasional heart flutter (if you’re lucky) and ridiculous activities that you often wouldn’t even think about doing in your usual day-to-day life (seriously, I once went on a first date to a driving range and hated every second of it. It’s fair to say that one didn’t work out, thankfully.) But even if they end up being terrible, it’s always fun to have a giggle with your pals over a glass of wine, retelling the horror events that went on. Even just over a month ago, this was still the norm, but today, in the time of coronavirus, dating has never looked so different.
Of course everyone is still using their dating apps, swiping left and right to potential suitors, answering random little questions on your ‘favourite hobbies’, and having to swipe past the occasional rude D pictures, but the actual dating part was on the brink of existence.
With social distancing enforcements ever present throughout society and lockdown in full swing, we decided to find out what measures dating apps have invested in and how they’ve begun adapting in the time of coronavirus.
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Aligning Their Values To Coincide With Government Guidelines
It comes as no surprise that given the current circumstances every business, including The Handbook, has had to rethink their strategy to coincide with the new government guidelines surrounding COVID-19, but dating apps have had to go the extra mile here because although they’re virtually based, the hope is that people will want to continue connecting with potential partners even during this incredibly strange period.
Dating apps have had to go the extra mile here because although they’re virtually based, the hope is that people will want to continue connecting with potential partners.
Dating app giants, Tinder began by rolling out advertisements which popped up in between swipes, raising issues surrounding social distancing. Meanwhile Bumble, the app that lets women make the first move, released a post about dating during coronavirus, according to an epidemiologist, Dr. Seema Yasmin, which outlined measures individuals should take when trying to date during this pandemic, as well as measures and advancements to the Bumble app following the virus spread.
Grindr, the world’s largest dating app for gay, bi and queer people, has also been promoting social distancing and encouraging staying at home via their app and their blog-style website, Bloop, through articles including showing how couples are dealing with their quarantine situations, and Hinge is following suit with specific guidelines from WHO on their app too. It seems dating apps are trying to do their bit to encourage their users to act responsibly during their current period of uncertainty.
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Opening Up Their Different Features For Free Or Reduced Rates
While the majority of dating apps are free for anyone to use, they often have in-built extras that you can pay for. Tinder again is a prime example of this, with their Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold features. To coincide with the current situation that’s evolving around the world, Tinder released a statement to help combat loneliness during this time. “Having someone to talk to can make a world of difference. And that’s why we decided that starting this week we’ll make our Passport feature, which is normally paid, free to everyone, everywhere.” This promotion is running until April 30th and allows individuals from across the world to connect with one another and see if a spark might arise.
Adapting To Dating At Home
Video calling is awkward at the best of times, pair that with the possibility of a first date and it’s a whole ‘nother story.
One thing we can all agree on is the fact that a first date should never have to be a virtual thing, but in the time of coronavirus and quarantining, singles are having to step up their dating style and branch out into the online world of video calling. Luckily rather than having their users give out their phone numbers and personal details so early on, many dating apps have incorporated virtual dating features into their apps.
One app in particular that’s particularly popular and has the slogan of ‘the dating app that’s designed to be deleted’ is Hinge and they’ve recently launched their ‘Date from Home’ feature, which allows users to date over the phone. If your usual go-to is taking your date out for a swanky dinner on your first date, you’ll be able to adapt your dating style into a virtual hit as you eat dinner with one another via Zoom, or watch a film together via Kast, so you can still practice social distancing and date at the same time. Coffee meets Bagel is an American dating app, however on their social networking platforms they’ve recently begun dedicating their feeds to promoting social distancing and the virtual video dating world, as can be seen below.
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The dating experts at Bumble have also helped to keep the dating world alive through their video chat and voice calling feature. In an age where virtual dating has become so ever present and it’s often the way to ‘meet’ your partner these days, dating apps can also be rather dangerous as you never truly know who it is you’re going to meet/or if they are simply a catfish. There’s also a level of responsibility here, because although dating apps are often great ways of meeting up with potential partners, there’s never any way of knowing ‘who’ it is you’re actually meeting.
One app that goes above and beyond from keeping on track of their members is The Inner Circle, who have always had measures in place to keep catfish out of their system. This dating app centres itself around its dating events and meet-ups, but these have of course had to be cancelled during this current coronavirus situation, but this hasn’t stopped users still swiping and matching with potential partners on the app now that we all have a bit of extra time on our hands. Learn more about how this app in particular is adapting here.
The coronavirus situation is constantly changing day by day, and it’s hard to know just when the situation will begin slowing down and life will resume as normal. But until then, it’s reassuring to know that the dating app world is doing their bit to keep their users safe, whilst still having a bit of fun through virtual dating. If you’re headed out onto a virtual date to the sofa this evening, good luck.
