Representational image. | Daniel Becerril/ Reuters
The pandemic will perhaps be remembered as one of the most complex, near-operatic times in modern history. And true to an opera, young hearts found a way to meet, talk, and maybe even find love.
For Indian users of Tinder, it became a platform to talk about everything happening in real life, but not in real life. At least not without masks.
Not only was the mask emoji among the most used, but masks were also an essential part of Tinder bios in India between January and November. Since Covid-19 began its spread in India in March, mentions of masks in Tinder bios were up 2.5 times by April. For lovers of brevity, the mask emoji was used five times more in April than it was before that.