The Covid-19 Pandemic has affected the majority of businesses around the globe from a small grocery store to a big supermarket. However, one segment which is profoundly affected due to Corona is online dating. The culture of hooking, which is possible within a few taps on smartphones, has become a distant memory.
The transformation in the online dating world is real-quick, from previous matching services in the 90s to swipeable apps in 2020, where singles can instantly browse using leading social networks and tag their date has become a no-brainer. In a nutshell, the communication scenario changed how singles used to meet their friends.
As of now, the interaction flow of dating apps is going to end for in-person interaction. Moreover, CDC guidelines are requesting people to remain quarantined and stay about 6-feet away while they are with other people. On the other hand, the World Health Organization said that kissing is the fastest way to spread disease, so avoid it.
For the next few weeks or months, singles will not be able to decide between meeting a person for real due to the pandemic fear.
Various dating apps have taken some essential steps to resolve the issues of dating.
Without further ado, here we will provide you with all the changes made in the dating world.
Effective Changes made by Dating Apps to tackle Covid-19 Pandemic
1. Functionality and Pricing Changes
If you were using Tinder and logged in to your account in the recent days, then you must have observed some notice shared by the company in its app.
In general, it says that Social Distancing is not equal to disconnecting. We wish you to make a good connection in these hard times, but this should not happen in real life.
The wide array of dating apps in the market has changed its functionality and pricing for the sake of good. In short, they did this to help people find a new connection.
Tinder Passport, a feature that allows people to choose a city as compared to their current location, comes along with a paid subscription, has been absolutely made free for everyone.
2. New Programs for Singles
Popular dating app Tinder is thinking of increasing its Tinder U program for college students. Due to Corona, the majority of colleges are being closed for this semester; people live with their parents; hence, they can continue to match online with other students.
3. Virtual Dating
Hinge, one of the most popular dating apps, has introduced a “date to home” feature that allows matches to carry out video chats like a walk in the park. The company is currently planning to integrate a feature known as “Date Ready” enabling users to present their availability for phone-to-phone calls.
Earlier, video chat features weren’t adopted by a vast number of dating apps belonging to Match Group; however, now they are aiming to focus on this area.
Plenty of Fish, a popular dating app, introduced a live streaming feature two months before to inspire people to date from a distance because the country is following social distancing. This feature is present in highly affected cities like New York, Washington, and California. Moreover, POF is planning to launch the service across the sphere in the near future.
Social media giant Facebook announced before 2 months ago that they would enable people to conduct “virtual dates.” The company is aiming to launch a new video calling feature that enables users of its dating service to join in the name of video calls over Messenger, which is the best substitute for people seeking a real-life date.
Bumble, a leading dating app that allows women to make the first move, introduced voice and video calling for over a year.
Some of the classic dating apps like eHarmony are also adopting the culture of video dating and hoping to gain attention from users through new-age dating.
4. Better Questionnaire
OkCupid, a leading online dating service, has introduced a critical question in the questionnaire, which says, “Does coronavirus affect your dating life.”
By doing this, the dating app is trying to keep the users engaged and also help each other in tough times.
5. New App Launches
Several prominent enterprise creators are releasing new products, particularly in this hard time. CNN states the release of Quarantine Together, an app that was launched on March 15 that sends each of the newly signup members a query asking if they have washed their hands.
If the user answered positively, the app matches them with a user for text conversion, which can later be extended to a video call after approval after 15 mins.
The above thing looks simple but out of the box compared to a regular dating app; however, developer Daniel Ahmadizadeh states that with the main aim of life being changed, the method we used to date should also get changed.
Positive Impacts of Covid-19 on Dating Industry
- Tinder in the US observed a sudden increase in the daily message count by 10-15% in February. While the daily message count in countries like Spain and Italy increased by 25%. Moreover, the overall length of the conversation is up by 10-30%.
- Bumble has observed a 20% increase in its user base due to the launch of in-app calls feature before a year.
- OkCupid has observed a 700% increase in engagement among users on social feed due to social distancing norms culture.
- Tinder stated that it has observed 3 million users swiping to find a potential date on March 29th. Briefly, Tinder noted the best engagement on that day since it’s launch.
- Match a dating app said that around 6% of users were using its platform before the pandemic, and now 69% of singles are ready to chat with a date through video. Moreover, 22% of respondents stated that they are prepared to start a relationship with a person that they haven’t met in real life.
- On April 23, Coffee Meets Bagel, a popular dating app in the US, stated that 51% of users are eager to use the video chat feature extensively, and 18% said they had made a minimum one video call with their date.
So, these were some of the positive impacts of novel CoronaVirus on some of the widely known dating apps across the globe.
Conclusion
Covid-19 has led to many changes to one of the fastest-growing industries across the globe. Despite Covid-19, the craze of online dating among a vast number of people has not decreased. On the other hand, people are willing to find new dates and enter into the relationship online. This indicates that the dating industry’s craze is not over and is not going to end soon, just because of the changing technology.
If you are planning to join the dating bandwagon by opting for dating app development, this is the best time.
You may have a question, how?
Positive impacts of covid-19 on various dating apps clearly state that the dating industry is here to stay. Moreover, when the effect of a pandemic is decreased, the dating industry might observe a sudden boom.
If you already possess an innovative dating app idea, you should approach a professional dating app development company. They will analyze your concept thoroughly, create a feasible app idea that works in the current market scenario, and then deliver you the best dating app.
