How Dating Apps are Evolving After the U.S. Election

Let’s face it, the U.S. election was a polarizing event, and now that it’s over, people in both camps are weary of those in the other. This can make two strangers who meet via a dating app hesitant about each other. Should they talk politics or not? Will political party allegiance be a factor in whether or not the relationship moves forward?

More and more daters are wondering where their dates stand politically than ever before. For many, it’s not about playing politics, but about connecting over shared values. Conservatives and Democrats are very divided in what’s most important on a more personal level, so much so that it can affect romantic relationships.

But what about dating apps themselves? They seem to be changing according to the political interests of their users, too, as website Bustle mentioned in a recent article. The League, an exclusive dating app that markets to single women in particular, comes with a waiting list for those who want to join. After the election, the company saw a good opportunity to grow its business even more, and pushed up its launch in Washington D.C. thanks to the election results.

Bumble put out a statement to explain this move: "The League will launch in D.C. not only to help strong men and women of all races, nationalities, and sexualities find partners who support them in their endeavors, but also to provide a supportive community for the thousands of women who may feel alienated by the current election results."

Maple Dating, an app that matches people in the U.S. with fellow Canadians, launched in early November after beta testing earlier this year. The app’s user base doubled the day after the election, indicating the influence of politics in peoples’ personal decisions. Later that same week, the app ranked as the 67th social networking app in the iTunes Store, and continues to grow.

In addition to Maple Dating, more politically-focused dating apps have emerged in the last year. CandiDate is a non-partisan app that lets users match with whoever jives with their party preferences. Matching is primarily based on political preferences.

Bernie Singles also launched this year, and took off out of the gate by dedicated young Bernie fans who were looking for love, or at least, for like-minded individuals. The company offers a tongue-and-cheek explanation of the app on its website: "We help connect progressives beyond social media to inspire chemistry among folks who share similar visions of the future. The 1% are not the only ones getting screwed this election season."

Bumble, another popular female-centric dating app, made waves by adding an election filter to its match process. The app offered the chance for people to declare their party alignment, or tell their dates they don’t really care by adding the option of “Pizza for President.”

Some apps are allowing users to avoid the topic altogether. Dating app Dine is skirting potential users around the political divide by offering a “Let’s Not Argue Politics” feature. This is helpful for those less inclined to want to discuss politics on a first date, or who don’t hold such strong partisan feelings.

Whatever your political preferences when you date, there are plenty of options – now more than ever. We’ll see if this trend continues over the next couple of election cycles.