Tinder revealed that 2020 was its busiest year and, this year, its users have already broken two usage records between January and March.
In response to the new requests, according to news agency AP, Tinder announced new tools in June that will allow users to get to know people online better, being able to add videos to profiles and talk to others.
“Historically, consumers hesitate in video connections because they didn't miss it. Online dating applications like Tinder are leaning towards this,” Jess Carbino, an online dating specialist and sociologist who has worked for Tinder and Bumble, told the AP.
However, at the moment dating apps say that video chats are here to stay, even as life is starting to get back to normal in some parts of the world.
Almost half of Tinder users had a video conversation with a compatible person during the pandemic, with 40 percent expressing an interest in continuing to use the app in the future.
At the beginning of the pandemic, a public relations consultant based in New Jersey, in the United States of America (USA), said that she began filtering people, organizing video chats before agreeing to meet someone in person.
To the AP, Jennifer Sherlock explained that she had dated some men through dating apps, noting that the dates were "strange".
Tinder says that interest in the app is largely driven by Generation Z, young people in their late teens and early 20s, who represent more than half of the users.
The Hinge digital application also explains that the majority of its users, 69 percent, will continue to arrange online meetings after the pandemic, noting that, after having tripled its revenue between 2019 and 2020, it expects to double it this year.
Tinder, together with other popular apps including Hinge, OkCupid and Bumble, has partnered with the UK and US governments to add a badge to personal profiles indicating covid-19 vaccination, but, the AP said, there is no data verification process and people can hide the truth.
“Dating app users are also looking for more in-depth interactions than casual dates,” said Jess Carbino.
It happened to Maria del Mar, 29, an aerospace engineer, who had not expected to enter into a relationship after a meeting on Tinder last year.
Maria del Mar started talking to her current boyfriend through an app, in April 2020, during the lookdown in Spain, having moved to Barcelona.
“If it weren't for the application, our paths would probably not have crossed”, she said, noting that they are now living together.
Fernando Rosales, 32, was a user of Grindr, a popular app in the LGBTQ community, and turned to Tinder for social interactions when pandemic restrictions prevented people from getting to know each other in London (England), where he lives.
“Grindr is like: I like you, you like me, you are 100 meters from me, I come to you. Tinder is a more social thing”, pointed out Fernando Rosales, who uses the app to find people to play games online or to chat online.
Also Ocean, 26, a cross-dressing artist and photographer in Berlin (Germany), used the video of an LGBTQ+ app called Taimi to make friends around the world during the pandemic.
“Having two to five minute video chats with strangers from places like the Philippines or parts of the US was amazing,” said Ocean, whose birth name is Kai Sistemich.
Kai Sistemich added that he will continue to use the digital application in the post-pandemic period, especially while he is doing activities on his own, such as cooking, or getting ready for a show.