Love can’t be locked!

Gurnaaz Kaur

Love knows no bounds… but what when singletons are stuck indoors? How do they find a potential love interest in this time of social distancing? It looks like dating apps are their next best option. They are swiping through apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid and others more than ever.

“After vowing to stay away from dating apps, I decided to join Hinge again after almost two months. Staying alone during lockdown gave even an introvert like me the quarantine blues, so dating apps were the perfect solution. I joined Hinge to connect with more like-minded people and I’ve met quite a few of them,” says assistant professor Anmol.

Virtual dating

With a lot of lonely time, more and more people need social interaction. “There is a surge in the number of profiles on Tinder, Bumble and Hinge. Most of the people either seem to be absolute newcomers or those who were working in other cities and have come back home. These growing numbers mean more matches as well. I have been able to kill time by matching and having some great conversation,” explains Sarabdeep Singh (26), image consultant.

Be it boredom, loneliness, validation or the hope to meet true love in life, virtual dating is the ‘in thing’ for now. “Dating apps are a saviour for many of us who want to get social in these times. Swiping right is just another quarantine time-killer, the number of profiles have therefore increased. Even I have been editing and making my bio-data witty and humorous to get more of those right swipes,” quips Gayatri (26), an entrepreneur.

Fresh features

These apps are encouraging users to date virtually and avoid meeting in person. It’s for the same reasons many have rolled out new features to suit this time. Tinder has made paid-for ‘passport’ free till April 31. It allows you to match with people around the world. Like Bumble, Hinge has introduced video-calling, OkCupid has its users meeting traditionally -through virtual coffee dates, movie dates and dinner dates. These feature updates are a hit among the users. “Calling has made it much easier to connect without sharing your personal details. One of the guys I matched with even told me ‘I have 10 dates lined up after quarantine’ and I think that’s really cute and gives you something to look forward to,” shares Gayatri. She tells there is a shift in the pick-up line as well. From ‘Do you want to meet up for coffee’, it is now, ‘How are you spending time in this quarantine?’.

Emotional connect

Seeing the brighter side of this virtual world, fashion choreographer and actor Jagnoor Aneja thinks dating online encourages emotional connection. “People are actually focusing on knowing each other than just wanting to meet from the word go. I have been active on Bumble and Tinder, swiping right and getting matched too. I am enjoying chatting with new people about life, love, friendship, relationships and so much more.”

Appreciating the developments made by Hinge, Garima Parekh, a communication expert, says, “Hinge has adapted pretty well to Covid-19, where you get in-built options to date from home. If both the parties click yes, it shows a notification that both are ready to get on a call and take things further. But since I don’t want to give my contact number, I take the lead and add them on Insta. There is always the option to block/ unmatch them if it gets overwhelming for me.”

Clearly, despite being stuck indoors, the dating world is booming, albeit on the web!

Growth curve

Ariel Charytan, CEO, OkCupid, says, “There have actually been over 50 million introductory messages sent across the world on OkCupid over the last month among daters connecting for the first time. People are looking for human connection now more than ever before. Our app allows daters to match and get to know each other. Staying connected is so important right now, whether that’s through OkCupid, video chatting with friends, or phone calls with family.”

“I’m happy we’ve been able to make our Passport feature, which allows you to connect with anyone, anywhere in the world, available for free to all members,” says Elie Seidman, Tinder CEO. “We hope our members, many of whom are anxious and looking for more human connection, can use Passport to transport themselves out of self-quarantine to anywhere in the world.”