Social Distance Dating
Ever since home lockdown and self-quarantine orders have been issued, society has felt a little lonely. When the coronavirus was announced, at the time, no one expected the devastating effects covid-19 would have on our jobs, our lives, on social interaction and dating. Because of this pandemic, all forms of in-person interaction have been asked to be deceased. When the world has its doors locked and you can’t go outside, how does that affect other normal activities like dating and that mental process of not being able to see someone physically?
Tinder is aware of the effects by covid-19, not just as a global outlook, but how it’s affected tinder’s business. It’s kind of hard to run a dating business during the middle of a global pandemic, so how can tinder adapt?
Reality is: long-distance dating and video calls have become normal now in this changing society. According to DailyMail.com, To prevent risks of catching covid-19, online dating and virtual dates can not only protect people from the spread of the coronavirus but also allows dates to connect more on an emotional level. Creating a strong, emotional connection with your partner has been considered more important, and the base to a long and healthy relationship.
According to a recent article, it is believed because of covid-19, hookup culture has died and romance has blossomed again due to people’s restraints. On Tinder, daily conversations have risen by 20%, and because some people aren’t willing to risk getting sick, there is now more communication, allowing for a deeper connection. Since hookups aren’t necessarily thriving right now, the statement that covid-19 is killing hookup culture and recreating romance, might not be entirely true.
Although conversations have risen by 20% on Tinder, it seems that the daily use and activity of tinder has recently dropped in the past few months. In February, Tinder ranked 123 in the google play store, but as of March, it dropped down to 179. Tinder was also ranked number 4 of lifestyle apps in February and dropped down to rank 7 in March. However, on the Apple app store, Tinder has fluctuated a lot more. Starting at the end of February, Tinder ranked 107th, by March 5th, Tinder had jumped from ranks 100+ to now 62nd. What is funny about this spike is the clear resemblance this effect took place due to spring break starting around the same first week. By March 19th Tinder began to slow down and drop again in rankings. But this also includes downloading of the app and not just usage rate.
When looking at Tinder’s usage rate, according to SimilarWeb, in February Tinder was rank 62nd in most-used apps, on March 20th, Tinder ranked 79th in usage rate. By May 2nd, Tinder has dropped to rank 107th in-app usage. So what is interesting is to hear other professionals say, “Covid-19 has improved our dating,” has a sort of yin-yang theory to it. On one hand, conversations between Tinder users have gone up 20%, allowing for a stronger, emotional connection, and possibly love. However, the only reason conversations are seeing such an increase is because the average usage rating is dropping day by day as quarantine continues. So is the coronavirus really helping dating and breaking down hookup culture, or is it destroying dating entirely and inflicting how we communicate to others? The answer is yes.
Tinder has also created a “passport” setting, allowing users to be free to match with anyone around the world in order to meet new friends, or potential lovers. The passport feature is a unique entry for Tinder users, but the problem is it was only available in April. The reasoning behind this function is to create more traction in the Tinder world.
Because of the lack of physical interaction, Tinder has significantly lost users in the wake of the pandemic. What I don’t understand is if Tinder wants to create new opportunities for online dating to make it more fun and feasible, why have these features also become a bore and taken away so quickly?
The passport feature in Tinder is especially interesting because it’s a function that has never been used before. The passport feature essentially goes back to the early stages of the internet and pen pals and revives this old form of communication. This is a cool idea, however, because of the lack of knowledge on how to access it, a limited amount of swipes, and a limited feature, doesn’t help Tinder, but serves as its own failure, pushing more users away from Tinder.
To understand online dating, I decided to give virtual dates a try to see what would transpire from having a physical date. Although the plan was to use Tinder’s new video calling system, I couldn’t find where it was located and how to use it. So I switched over to Bumble and wow was that a disappointment. Bumble uses the same structure as most dating apps, allowing people to swipe left or right to find matches. The biggest difference between Bumble and Tinder was how to communicate with each other. On Tinder, once there is a match, anyone has free access to send the first message. However, on Bumble, once there is a match, the female has to message first, the problem is, there is only a 24-hour window to message and another 24-hour window to respond until you un-match forever.
Another issue found on Bumble was the complete lack of activity that is received than on Tinder. During this experiment, dating found to be boring, constantly swiping right to match with someone and experiencing no luck. After several days of no luck, I finally found somebody who was interested in going on an online date.
During the first video call, there were moments of fear and lack of comfort with dating someone on a screen. By removing in-person contact, dating requires much more focus and listening skills to carry a conversation. By eliminating the physicalness of dating, people rely on the smarts in their heads and their personalities. This is where we can see the understanding of why there are fewer users on Tinder. For those who are only interested in hookups or struggle in holding conversations with random people, online dating can be a huge problem. Online dating isn’t for everybody, and that is okay, but there needs to be an understanding that this pandemic may not end anytime soon.
There are plenty of ways to have a fun, interesting, date night. Many of the ways suggested in a certain article was to be spontaneous. Cooking dinner together may not be the easiest through virtual dating, but it’s that romantic setting of “being on a date” that can really make moments shine. Other suggestions are to throw dance parties, paint together, watching a movie together, or playing a game online together are all good practices to continue social distancing while still having a good time.
Dating may be changing how people interact, but this doesn’t mean it has to disrupt social interaction altogether. Dating is deep, complex, and messy. If online dating seems to be a struggle, just talking to friends is a great way of releasing stress during a global pandemic.
