The COVID-19 epidemic, which was unexpected, undesired, and overall unsexy, was likely the biggest stumbling block for the dating application sector. The business concept is based on forming close connections, which is often linked with casual sex (rightly or unjustly). It faced a grim future starting in March 2020, since relationships would be mediated via screens for an indefinite period of time.
Dating apps such Tinder, Bumble, or Match.com, on the other hand, were fast to adjust to the new constraints put on socializing, as recent research published in the journal New Media & Society indicates. The apps’ turn away from hook-up lifestyle and into a new sort of “virtual dating”—one in which partners met through video conversations with minimal expectations—was aided by technological advancements, user messaging, and advertising content. Instant chemistry and reciprocal sexual attraction were valued less than connections, engagements, and sincerity.
The majority of software developers jumped at the chance to legitimize virtual dating by using better video calling technologies. Despite the fact that the phrase comes from the 1990s, its definition has significantly changed from the text- and e-mail-based relationships that existed at the time. Video technology allows potential partners to dine, drink, and speak together from the comfort of their own homes. It may not have the same ambiance as a restaurant or pub, but it offers new ways to communicate.
Apps modified how they appear and how they are used to keep users returning even when in-person relationships proved difficult, if not unattainable. Some companies created their own video conferencing technology and integrated it into their user interfaces. Others added student-specific features, updated their logos, and produced listicles and advice on freshening up virtual dates to hype up the at-home atmosphere. The researchers were especially drawn to the focus on honesty, love, and romantic messages. The applications, they write, appealed to a feeling of social normality in a very uncommon period like a worldwide epidemic, promoting trust, fidelity, and even marriage.
