“ My favorite app is Bumble, as it’s inclusive in the way that its prompts allow me to share more about my Black identity so people know where I stand and who I am as a Black woman. Unlike Tinder and Bumble, you have to swipe left and right a lot before you find a Black guy depending on the city you’re located in.” -Krysta With Hinge, you’re able to choose the race preference you prefer.
“As a Black woman who uses dating apps, I’d go with Hinge. But I felt like Bumble was always being used by people who were more serious about dating and I felt like the men-especially white men-I matched with were genuinely there for relationships and not just sex…which wasn’t always the case on Tinder.” -Amber, 26 Being a Black woman, you have to stay clear of white men in particular who have fetishes or sexualize Black women and really aren’t interested in seriously dating. In today’s digital world, singles are so busy swiping that they’re not actually connecting, in person, where it counts. Hinge is the dating app for people who want to get off dating apps. Not only did the app allow me to pick and choose who I wanted to reach out to, but I also felt safer on Bumble since it has features that give you the option to verify your profile in order to avoid being catfished. Hinge helps turn dating apps into real dates, and ending the need to be on an app. “I met my fiancé on Bumble two years ago. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.TBH, All Dating Apps Should Require Pronouns This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information.
MARTIN: OK, so finally getting to go on in-person dates is one thing, but you also have to remember how to make conversation with new people outside of a Zoom screen.Ĭopyright © 2021 NPR. So finding a partner is right at the top of their list now, coming out of the pandemic. MCLEOD: Yeah, I mean, I think we've actually been calling it the relationship renaissance because what we've been finding is that users are really prioritizing their relationships ahead of other things.
But nothing beats sitting right across the table, and with more Americans getting vaccinated daily and cities starting to loosen the health guidelines, the dating app industry is expecting a busy summer.
You crack a joke here and there, and if they actually laugh, it just makes you feel really good. It's a little nerve-wracking at first, but then, yeah, you just start talking, and you can ease right into it. MARTIN: NPR actually talked to some pandemic daters last year, including Andrew Strofford, who says video dating wasn't that bad.ĪNDREW STROFFORD: It's very similar to just meeting up with someone for coffee. INSKEEP: Before COVID - do you remember there was a time before COVID? - only a few dating apps even offered a video service, but McCleod says he expects video dates to be popular well after the pandemic ends. So that's something that people very rarely did before the pandemic, and now people are - they're using it instead of meeting up with people for a while just to get a sense of someone and create that initial sense of connection. MCLEOD: The big change has been video dating. And with grabbing a coffee or getting a drink largely off the table, they had to get creative. MARTIN: This is Justin McCleod, the CEO and founder of Hinge, a dating app.ĭating apps including Hinge saw a spike in users at the beginning of the pandemic. JUSTIN MCLEOD: People can't meet the way that they were meeting outside of dating apps - so, you know, at the gym or at a party or at a wedding. Public health guidelines and concerns over the virus made it tough to meet new people.
The pandemic has made for a challenging year for single people looking for love.