Brief - The Hustle

Against all odds, we’re living in Tinder boom times

Written by Michael Waters | Jul 9, 2020 8:33:43 AM

I would like to propose a new form of quarantine doomscrolling: Doomswiping.

If April saw the peak of Horny on Main culture, then May and June were when single people collectively dove back into dating apps. 

Sure, in-person dating is a logistical nightmare. But that didn’t stop millions of us from clicking through profiles, wondering what — in normal times — might have been. 

On Tinder, messages shot up 20%, and conversation lengths jumped 25%. Last month, Tinder was the 3rd-highest-grossing app — above even Netflix and Disney+.

Tinder is suddenly looking like a snack

Its Q1 earnings report said growth of paid subscribers had slowed significantly compared to the same time last year. But lately, Tinder has tried to sweep users off their feet with COVID-friendly features: 

  • Passport is now free for everyone — you can set your location anywhere in the world.
  • The company has been testing in-app trivia since May.
  • And as of this week, Tinder has started rolling out a video chat option in some US states.

Is that why people are dropping so much $$$ on Tinder? Maybe not completely.

The earnings data does not specifically break down where all that spending is coming from, but as Input points out, there’s likely one overriding culprit: Lonely people. 

Research has found that the loneliest Tinder users are also the app’s best customers. And 4 months into quarantine, if there’s one thing the singles crowd is not lacking for right now, it’s solitude.