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Dating changed during the COVID-19 pandemic; apps are following suit
FILE - This Tuesday, July 28, 2020, file photo shows the icon for the Tinder dating app on a device in New York. The use of dating apps in the last 18 months of the pandemic has surged around the globe. Tinder reported 2020 as its busiest year. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
04 Aug 2021 07:26AM Share this content
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LONDON: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer Sherlock went out with a few men she met through dating apps.
The dates were “weird”, she said, and not just because they were masked, socially distanced and outdoors.
Dating changed during the pandemic; apps are following suit
UROOBA JAMAL, Associated Press
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1of6FILE - This Tuesday, July 28, 2020, file photo shows the icon for the Tinder dating app on a device in New York. The use of dating apps in the last 18 months of the pandemic has surged around the globe. Tinder reported 2020 as its busiest year.Patrick Sison/APShow MoreShow Less
2of6FILE - In this Wednesday, May 29, 2019, file photo, a woman looks at the Grindr app on her mobile phone in Beirut, Lebanon. The use of dating apps in the last 18 months of the pandemic has surged around the globe.Hassan Ammar/APShow MoreShow Less
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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 that 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.”