How singles are meeting up on dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge during coronavirus pandemic – CNBC
A bar sits closed in the early evening of March 16, 2020, in Brooklyn after a decree that all bars and restaurants shut down in New York City to ease the spreading of the coronavirus.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stay-at-home mandates due to the coronavirus are shifting American routines, workflows and now dating. With 25% of all Americans being asked to remain indoors, and businesses closed in cities across the country, singles can’t go out to bars and restaurants to meet people. As a result, dating apps are seeing a serious spike in usage during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Bumble, a dating platform favored by urban millennials and Gen Z singles, saw a significant increase in messages sent in cities under shelter-in-place mandates. From March 12–22, Bumble recorded a 21% increase in sent messages in Seattle, a 23% increase in New York City and a 26% increase in San Francisco.
Match Group, the umbrella company for Match, Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and four other dating platforms, has jumped on the opportunity for more frequent swipes — when Tinder launched in 2012, it revolutionized online dating with its concept to swipe right for yes; swipe left for no — launching free tools for users in light of widespread pandemic-prompted isolation. Match’s Dating while Distancing hotline staffed by the company’s dating experts is now available and free for users 12 hours a day.
Swipers can even review possible matches in another country’s quarantine. Tinder
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