Dating in the time of corona is an experience in itself. If you are at that phase, you would probably notice how much dating lives have changed. Finding love during a pandemic is tough. Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Bumble, and the likes took it upon themselves to understand the needs of their audience. As per Statista’s report, revenue in the dating services segment is projected to reach ?59,074m in 2020. It can possibly result in a market volume of ?143,955m by 2024. As reported there has been a surge in users too and there are approximately 66.1 million users in India currently and is bound to increase.
Let us look at the dating trends report of Bumble and Tinder and see what dating looked like in 2020 for a lot!
Bumble:
Bumble is a social app. They like to put out on multiple occasions that they are not only limited to a dating app as they also have a make friends section for their users. Bumble is one of a kind mainstream app that is used due to the availability of the “women can text first feature”. They have an expiry date section too. So, if you don’t calculate your time well and do not text after matching in 24 hours, the match expires. They also have a networking section too. Hence, portraying a complete social package. This is a free to download app but you can invest in a premium membership for added benefits like:
– See everyone who has right-swiped you (your Beeline)
– Extend your matches by 24 hours
– Rematch with expired connections
– Unlock SuperSwipe, Spotlight and Travel to make the most of your profile
In India, Bumble crossed over 4 million users already in the month of July. The women-first dating app had reached 2 million users last December. Reportedly, in the first half of the year, women in India were sending twice the number of messages on Bumble than women globally.
Lately bumble shared its 2020 trend report card and here is what we know so far.
In 2020, nearly 540 million messages were sent through Bumble in India. The company attributes this to the need for social interaction that was put to halt by the sudden lockdown imposed in most countries by March-April. Daters had mixed responses on adopting a social app for their dating needs as meeting in real life was not possible. Less than 50% (around 40% approximately) reportedly said that they weren’t confident about dating. Around 70% singles said that dating in 2020 does not look like the ideal situation for them. However, around one third of the users were ready to meet in-person.
Without a doubt, the most talked-about conversation was regarding “work from home”. 57% of users described this situation as their “new normal”. The most popular prompt used in India in 2020 was – Beach or mountains, Nightclub or Netflix, ‘We’ll get on if..’, After work, you can find me.., and Favorite quality in a person. The most used emoji on Bumble profiles in India was the classic red heart (??). Popular time on the app on average was around 8 pm-10 pm. Sun Signs remained a topic of discussion. Leos got the highest number of matches, followed by Scorpio and Libra in India.
Some predictions for 2021 by Bumble:
-Dating in person still seems very much on the table. (1 out of 3 people prefer it and are ready to go on in-person dates)
-Virtual dating and video calls are gaining momentum and one out of 5 people find it preferable.
-There are chances that the users continue to use dating apps beyond 2020 also. 69% of Bumble daters say they’re planning to use dating apps just as much as they do now.
Tinder:
Tinder is one of the leading dating apps in India. Many attribute the online dating wave in India to this app. Tinder has been very experimental with their approaches in India and has actively trend jacked on social media platforms. From inclusivity in their apps to involving campus ambassadors, they have tried many things to get Indians to swipe more.
Gen Z, which mainly occupies this app talked about an array of things including social causes, local business, unexpected quarantine and more. Undoubtedly “quarantine and chill” took off as the catchphrase post lockdown and users became really creative with their pickup lines centred around the theme of coronavirus.
Masks were the prerequisites even for texting. Mask references and emoji use shot up by 2.5x and 5x respectively by April 2020. The most used emoji was the shrugging emoji. It was used to denote the uncertainty of the time.
Cardi B’s song “WAP” was a hit post-release across platforms and found an apt spot on Tinder too. The users bonded overs social causes. This year mentions of ‘climate change’ doubled from 2019. Quarantine trends like Dalgona Coffee, Bored in the House, and Banana bread, found a place in conversations and bios globally.
Prateek Kuhad’s song “Kasoor” was one popular song mentioned in Tinder bios this year. Gaming too was heavily discussed. ‘Baba Ka Dhaba’ & Rasode Main Kaun Tha? Trended well on tinder. In its Q3 earnings report, Tinder said it added around 400,000 new subscribers, and direct sales went up by 15% year-over-year.