Swiping right to quarantine and chill was the mood on Tinder this year as social distancing and lockdowns made first dates about as tricky as hooking up in your parents’ house.
Interest in dating apps like Tinder soared, as singletons sought companionship in a time of Covid, and now Tinder, like a creepy digital stalker, has shared what its users chatted about in 2020.
Pick-up lines
The pandemic birthed an entirely new kind of pick-up line, which aptly captured the zeitgeist. These include, “Let’s be like Covid and catch each other” and “Let’s quarantine & chill,” which, honestly, kind of misses the point of self-isolating and not spreading an airborne virus.
The now ubiquitous ?? [shrug] emoji was a regular feature on the app too, and, frankly, it does sum up the year pretty well.
Trending topics
There was a surge of interest in politics, thanks to the US presidential election, as well as in social justice, as mentions of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement increased 55-fold, Tinder said.
Tinder did not, however, mention that for several weeks this year it had banned users for mentioning BLM, without giving reasons.
TikTok also made itself at home on Tinder as users shared flirty, funny videos.
Celeb buzz
Kanye West, Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin from Tiger King and Prince Harry and Meghan were some of the most talked-about celebs on the app, and “Megxit” was the most-used term in users’ bios in January and February this year, as the Sussexes relocated to California.
Tinder users found new love for Dolly Parton, with about 26% more mentions of the 74-year-old country singer in their bios than in 2019, after she started the #DollyPartonChallenge, a collage of pics of her in different looks for different social-media apps: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Tinder.
Emojis and music
The flame emoji, shrugging emoji and face-mask emoji were the most-used icons this year; and trending songs included Toosie Slide by Drake, Blinding Lights by The Weeknd and For the Night by Pop Smoke featuring Lil Baby and DaBaby.
SOURCES: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, YAHOO.COM, GOTINDER.COM
