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Updated May 4th, 2021 at 06:33 IST

COVID-19: Dating app users add 'vaccine status' on their profiles, feature grows popular

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, dating apps have evolved to get an additional criteria-Vaccine Status, according to a report by The Guardian.

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
dating app
Image Credits: Pixabay | Image:self
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Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, dating apps are also evolving with time, getting an additional criteria-Vaccine Status. According to a report by The Guardian, leading dating applications including Tinder, Bumble and OK Cupid have registered an unprecedented surge in users who’ve specified their vaccination status while also wishing for their future partners to get one. Experts are deeming it as a positive move that could help quash vaccine scepticism across the globe.

Recently, London based Elate Date added ‘Vaccination status’ as criteria to filter out potential matches for people. And a report by The Guardian testified that it was working too. It discovered that s many as 60 per cent of people that used the application were against dating anti-vaxxers.

Meanwhile, in the US, the syringe emoji has become the new winky face. Speaking to New York Times, Michael Kaye, a spokesperson for OKCupid quipped that getting vaccinated was the “hottest thing” anybody could do on a dating app. Testifying the same, he added that users who claimed to have already received the COVID vaccine were being "liked" at twice the rate of users who said they weren't interested.

Over 1.7 billion doses administered

More than 1.17 billion doses of COVID vaccines have been administered across 174 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 20.2 million doses a day. While US leads the vaccine race, underdeveloped and developing countries including India lag behind. 

Meanwhile, in related news, Facebook said it was testing a new video speed-dating app called Sparked, which is being developed by its new product experimentation or “NPE Team, from Facebook”. The social media giant describes the app as “video dating with kind people” which has no features previously launched by other dating apps such as public profiles, swipes, and DMs. According to the Facebook app’s description, accessed by The Verge, Sparked will allow the users to interact via the speed video dates that can last as long as 4 minutes. If the match has had a sociable and quality time, Facebook would arrange another video date for at least 10-minutes, and people can exchange contact, or switch to Instagram or email for further communication. “Kindness is a key theme for the app,” The Verge explained, citing Sparked app’s theme. 

Image Credits: Pixabay

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Published May 4th, 2021 at 06:33 IST

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