Dating Apps Including OkCupid Encourage Users to Register to Vote

OkCupid Voter 2020 Badge

Image: OkCupid

Several popular dating apps including OkCupid, Tinder and Bumble are encouraging their users to vote through in-app promotions, according to The Hill.

As election season in the U.S. gets underway, many grassroots organizations are asking volunteers to make sure all eligible people, especially first-time voters, register to vote. Many non-profit groups are hoping to capture the attention of young people and get them excited about voting, and one of the strategies is to engage dating app users.

OkCupid has released a new “Voter 2020” badge that people can include in their profiles to show they are registered and ready to vote (or in some states with early voting, that they have already voted). Bumble has also released a badge to indicate whether or not you’re planning to vote.

OkCupid has taken things a step further by asking its users if they are registered to vote as they swipe through the app. If they answer “no,” they are taken to a landing page offering them the chance to register, according to The Hill.

Tinder included an in-app card inviting people to register to vote. If a user swipes right, they are also taken to a landing page where they can register.

Both OkCupid and Bumble have also partnered with organizations that help people register to vote. Bumble partnered with “I Am a Voter,” a public awareness campaign about voting, according to Fox News. OkCupid is working with When We All Vote, an organization founded by First Lady Michelle Obama and actor Tom Hanks, to help people register to vote. (The Hill noted that OkCupid’s users lean Democratic at 67 percent.)

Dating apps are a good bet for voter registration campaigns. According to Pew Research, nearly half of 18 to 29-year-olds have used a dating app, and for people ages 30 to 49, 38 percent report having used a dating app. (This poll was taken before the pandemic, when a surge of new users and activity were reported by several dating apps as people went into lockdown.)

OkCupid has leaned into politics, as the app found that many of its users prefer to talk about their political leanings, and have indicated it’s an important part of finding a match. The company also found that users who identified themselves as registered voters were 63 percent more likely to get a match, and 85 percent more likely to receive a message, according to The Hill. The company noted that 500,000 people surveyed on OkCupid said they couldn’t date someone who didn’t vote.

Ariel Charytan, OkCupid’s CEO, said in a statement: “Now more than ever, daters want to connect with people who share their values…Over the past few years, people on OkCupid have become more vocal about today’s leading issues — from climate change to voting rights. We have always empowered people to match on what matters to them, and our millions of daters across the United States overwhelmingly prioritize civic engagement when it comes to finding someone they are compatible with."