Tinder

Popular dating apps like Tinder and Bumble that operate in Australia and New Zealand are starting to add vaccination badges as a new profile feature to entice people to match and date. Bumble is rolling its badge out at the end of July, while Tinder is still a few weeks away.

The apps have already rolled out this popular feature in the U.S. and U.K., and now that Australians and New Zealanders are signing up to receive a vaccine, they will be expanding the feature to offer it in these countries, too. 

According to The Guardian, only 11 percent of Australians are fully vaccinated, which might make it more difficult for dating apps to offer as an incentive to match, at least for now. The Astro-Zeneca vaccine is available to eligible adults in the countries, but many are opting to wait for Pfizer, which remains in limited supply. But Australia and New Zealand are ahead of the game - many countries are still waiting for any vaccine dosages to become available for their populations.

A new study from Pew found that almost half of dating app users still have concerns about safety and security, even as popular apps are starting to address these concerns with features like background checks.

According to the study, 46 percent of Americans view dating apps to be unsafe, for three main reasons. They are primarily concerned with other app users lying and misrepresenting themselves, as well as with people who set up spam accounts. They are also concerned about receiving unsolicited explicit messages or photos, all pervasive problems.

Apps have begun to address these issues. Tinder launched a background checks feature in recent months so users could check out matches before agreeing to meet. Dating conglomerate The Meet Group debuted face verification badges that are powered by AI technology, so that users could offer verified profiles. Bumble also debuted a new feature that uses AI technology to blur unsolicited photos that contain graphic and lude images, so its members don’t have to see the photos in order to report them.   

Google has revealed that searches for dating content have reached a five-year high, thanks in part to the growing interest in dating apps during the pandemic.

According to a report from NPR, the most popular dating search term, at least in the Washington D.C. area, was “how to date,” indicating that people are gearing up for meeting in-person again after a year and a half of lockdowns. Searches for “top dating apps 2021” also exploded 3400 percent over the last month, and “dating apps for older people” rocketed up 3500 percent. 

Dana Balch, a spokesperson for Tinder, told NPR that the app has seen some of its highest swiping days in the spring, when daters were gearing up for what was dubbed a ‘Hot Vax Summer.’ "I think this is really coming from a place where people want to connect with others during a time when they've felt isolated," she told NPR.

Dating app Tinder is expanding its original content, partnering with Netflix India to produce a new reality dating series.

According to Variety, the show IRL: In Real Love, will take place in India and is produced by Monozygotic. It caters to the country’s growing younger population who are single and have become avid users of dating apps. 

There will be an in-app casting call – so instead of aspiring actors there will be real Tinder singles to star in the series. Promotional swipe cards will appear as users sift through potential matches, allowing them to swipe right to be directed to a registration page to try and become a cast member.

Tinder has noticed a popular trend emerging in the past week – users from around the world are changing their location to match with athletes staying in Olympic Village.

Tinder’s popular Passport feature was made available to all users at no cost for limited times during pandemic lockdowns, and many members took advantage. Passport allows users to switch locations to match with anyone in the world, regardless of where they currently live. And recently, Tinder users began changing their location to match with athletes participating in the Olympics.

There’s no current tally of the number of Tinder users setting their romantic sights on 2021 Olympic athletes, but referencing 2018 numbers, Tinder confirmed to Newsweek that there was an increase of 1,850 percent of users accessing Passport to match with athletes in the Olympic Village. 

Dating app Tinder has partnered with VisitHealth to offer free mental health services to its users in India.

Through July, all existing and new Tinder members in India will have free access to emotional wellness content through the dating app, such as guided meditations and fitness videos among other health initiatives, according to The Times of India.

In addition, every Tinder member will have access to two free sessions with a licensed therapist across all major Indian languages. Participating members can also have access to continued support at discounted rates after those first two sessions.

The pandemic has been difficult mentally and emotionally for people around the world, and young people looking for connection have been especially vulnerable. More than half of India’s Tinder members are 18 to 25-year-olds, and as The Times of India points out, they have become more open in sharing their lives with others over the app in order to feel more connected - including who they are, how they look, and how they feel. Since the start of the pandemic, Tinder noted that mentions of the word “anxious” grew by 20 percent, and the word “normalize” was used 11 times more frequently in bios from March 2020 until now.