It’s the 2020 election season, and political campaigns are competing for young voters – and turning to dating apps Tinder and Bumble for help.

Young campaign volunteers are using dating apps to chat with their matches and advertise for their candidates over dating apps, according to International Business Times. Some are even springing for premium versions of Tinder so they can change location and engage voters in other states. Still other app users are advocating for more political engagement, including announcing in their profiles that they only date registered voters.

Tinder announced that its hit interactive series Swipe Night has been greenlit for season two. The new season is expected to debut this summer, according to The Verge.

Swipe Night season one premiered last year in October in the U.S., and will be released internationally in March. The series consisted of five-minute episodes available once per week (Sunday evenings throughout the month) via the Tinder app. As users watched, they were presented with choices of what to do in real time, which informed how the story unfolded for them, described as a “choose-your-own-adventure” format.

The choices viewers made also populated their user profiles, so other Tinder users could see how they chose and make decisions as to whether or not to swipe right or message them.

Bonding with a date over shared interests is nothing new. Neither is weeding out potential dates who don’t share your values. In a time when it is growing increasingly difficult for people to date across political lines, OkCupid is making it easier for singles to meet matches who share their views — at least when it comes to climate change.

An overwhelming majority of OkCupid users think climate change is one of the most devastating threats currently facing the planet. According to data provided by the company, 97 percent of its users believe climate change is real and 82 percent say they’re concerned about its potential impact. More than 90 percent also said they’d be willing to change their behavior if they found out something they do is bad for the environment. OkCupid says it has seen a 240 percent increase in mentions of related terms appearing on people’s profiles, including “climate change,” “environment,” “global warming” and “Greta Thunberg.”

For heterosexual, cisgender singles, online dating offers a mind-boggling number of opportunities to swipe your way to your next date. There are apps for vegetarians, vegans and bacon enthusiasts, apps for farmers, apps for sea captains, apps for geeks, apps for dog lovers, apps for affairs, apps for hooking up on airplanes, apps for spiritual singles and members of different faiths, apps based on political leanings, exclusive apps for A-listers — and that’s on top of Tinder, Bumble, Match, Hinge, OkCupid and the other general dating apps that dominate the market.

For queer singles, the landscape looks different. Grindr changed the game for men seeking men, but no app for anyone else on the queer spectrum has reached the same level of success. That may change with Lex — a new app that grew out of a missed connections Instagram page. Lex describes itself as a dating and social platform for lesbian, bisexual, asexual, womxn, non-binary, trans, genderqueer, intersex, two spirit and queer people. In other words, almost anyone but cisgender men.

And that’s not all that sets Lex apart. The original Instagram account was inspired by the personal ads found in On Our Backs, a women-run erotica magazine published in the 1980s and 1990s. In a similar vein, Lex profiles are text-only personal ads. There are no photos unless a user elects to link their Instagram account to their profile. Although it’s an old school approach, it feels brazen and modern in an era when profiles are getting shorter and swiping through images is the preferred method of connection for millions of singles.

Image: Heartbeat Blog

Dating apps are getting serious about user safety. Following last month’s announcement that new safety features are coming to Tinder, another major dating platform owned by Match Group is adding safety features of its own. Match.com’s latest release is Date Check-In, a communication tool that allows users to keep selected friends and family members informed while they’re on a date.

Going on a date with someone you met online can be intimidating — not just because any first date comes with its fair share of nerves, but also because of the potential to wind up entangled with a con artist, creep or other unsavory character. With Date Check-In, Match users can easily send out an SOS if they feel unsafe. The feature lets users designate three emergency contacts who will receive an automated notification in case of emergency.

We might be social distancing, but rest assured - singles are looking to dating apps to keep their love lives going during the coronavirus pandemic. 

A recent survey conducted by Dating.com found that there was a spike in dating app activity among users in countries around the world as the coronavirus becomes widespread. As many as 82 percent of singles are turning online as they self-quarantine in their homes.

From those surveyed, more than 50 percent of daters said that they would be interested in conducting online dates to get to know people they’ve met online to avoid spreading or catching the virus. Thirty percent of those surveyed said that they are going to just stick with messaging and chatting with matches using their dating apps until they are able to meet up in person. Notably, only 5 percent of singles reported that they are going to stop dating altogether until the virus passes.